Star Trek: Deep Space 13
by trekqueen
Summary: Is set in the Star Trek universe immediately following the Dominion War and is based on the station Deep Space 13. This is the beginning story of further continuing adventures of the crew and people on that station. Will be coming back to story to revise.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: Characters, starships, space stations, etc from the _Star Trek_ television shows and franchise belong to Paramount. My characters are my creation and belong to me. Profiting from this story is illegal.****

****

**_Deep Space 13_**

_"__Stars,__ hide your fires; let not light see my black and deep desires.__"___

**Prologue**

"Your new command job is simple really," stated Admiral Nettera. "You will come in to command the station and bring a sense of control to the out-laying sector and planets of the system and neighboring ones as well. _Starfleet_ is there to give a sense of closure and comfort for the Jetallan people. You do have your intelligence report on the history and schematics of the station and the planet?"

Nod.

"Of course you do," chuckled the bright-faced man. "You were one of our best and brightest out of the Academy in your graduating class. Amazing experience in field operations and spectacular diplomatic achievements."

He tapped through her file quickly and scanned with his eyes over bits and pieces of information combined from over thirty years. She sat still in the awkward silence that emanated around her. She forced herself to glance around the small office that belonged to the admiral and found a star outside his window in the onset of evening. She kept focused on that point and successfully appeared calm and collected like any Vulcan should. 

"A remarkable career you have, Commander," began the admiral suddenly as he glanced up to her.

She straightened her posture and trained her green eyes on the admiral with respect.

"Thank you, sir," she answered. 

"Although, what concerns me is the incident that occurred on Teprem III," he said with a long sigh.

"A very . . . unfortunate accident, sir," she spoke carefully as the memories poked at her brain and the twinge of uneasiness grew.

"The ship you were first officer on," he stated without taking the hint that the subject was an issue she wished not to discuss. "Your captain was killed on an away mission? Now why was he on the planet in the first place?"

"It is all included in the inquiry, sir," she calmly replied but somewhat struggled to keep her voice steady. "The interview has my account of the mission."

"I want to hear it from you, Commander," the admiral pressed.

She could feel her ears become red from feeling slightly flushed. She had told this story so many times; she almost had it memorized in her head but it always made her uncomfortable at some point.

"There were major disputes on the planet and we were ordered there to defuse the situations. It was my duty to beam to the surface but the ministry leaders of Teprem III wanted Captain Harpin to be there," she said pausing for a small breath while taking a quick glance at his searching glance and continued. "He agreed with them, sir, and I informed him that it was against _Starfleet_ protocol but he disregarded my reminder. He then proceeded to the Transporter Room where he left me in command."

"Why didn't you try to stop him?" the admiral questioned further. 

She squirmed visibly, a certain show of weakness on her part. She noticed he glanced away and did not notice.

"I did, sir, and we didn't know there was a possible Dominion collaboration. I was unsure what to do and it seemed like the problems on the surface were not going to escalate to perilous proportions," she commented.

The admiral stared at her long and hard a moment.

"Does this bother you, Commander?"

"No, sir, it does not," she said, using all her poise and strength to look him in the face without flinching. "I am Vulcan and I do not let emotions control me."

"I thought you were half-human?" the admiral popped another question.

"Indeed," she replied with a slight hesitation due to his questioning of a personal nature; though, like everything else, it was all in her files. "I am half-Vulcan and half-human. I prefer my Vulcan side."  

"Is that so . . .," the admiral pondered for a moment, staring at her hard for another minute, then sighed. "Well, I certainly hope you enjoy your new posting. It's a grand adventure."

"Thank you, sir. I look forward to it," she nodded and stood to meet him.

"This new position may be considerably unexciting compared to the fast paced excursions you had recently in the War," he laughed. "Though, it is very important that you lay some groundwork for our position and control in the sector."

"Of course, sir," she agreed. 

"Just to warn you," he added. "Many of these Jetallans are fairly… lively. They rival even the most spirited of Bajorans with their tempers. These people were harassed by the Dominion, too, so I would not be too surprised if they don't take a liking to you right away."

"I understand, sir," she spoke understandingly. "I visited _Deep Space 9 _not long after _Starfleet_'s liberation of Bajor. I know what may be waiting upon my arrival."

"Good, I am glad you know what you are getting into," he smiled gently at her as he stood. "Good luck, Commander Serea."


	2. The Journey

**Chapter One: The Journey**

Sitting comfortably in her guest quarters on the starship, _Mandalay_, Commander Jeanne Serea sipped her herbal tea with her long, brown hair loose and free around her shoulders. It was a three and a half week trip from Sector 001 to Jetal at safe warp speeds and Serea had felt herself become more distanced from the only home she ever knew, Earth. She had felt comfortable on her old ship, the _USS Callahan_, but never like a real home should feel. She was not sure if it was the claustrophobic conditions one may start to get on a starship but no holodeck program could make her at home than the real thing despite having her hard working, friendly crew mates around her.

Serea shut her eyes tightly and set her cup of green tea on the table in front of her as she stood up from the couch. 

"No, not that again," she whispered to herself as she tried desperately to avoid thinking of Teprem III. 

Hastily, Serea grabbed the padd that contained the information for her about her new posting on the _Deep Space 13_ station. 

"What an ironic name for a station with a bad reputation," she said to herself. 

The first padd contained the basics on the station itself and the other basics onward:

**Deep Space Station 13**__****

**_An old Cardassian mining station built during the period of expansion of the Cardassian Union. Built approximately 2350 in the _****Starfleet_ Standard timeline, the station had been designated Terok Liptal by the Cardassians. The station orbits the planet of Jetal, a class M planetoid that had been occupied by the Cardassians and the Dominion. The station is similar in design, parameters, and construction to that of the _Federation_ station _Deep Space Nine_, built a year later than the former._**

**__**

**_Specifications_****__**

**_General:_**

**_Description: Abandoned mining station_**

**_Diameter: 1007.67 meters_**

**_Height: 674.09 meters_**

**_Weight: 8,670, 000 MT_**

**_Max. speed: Stabilizing thrusters only_**

**_Defense (recently updated by Starfleet):_**

**_6 Starfleet Phaser Strips_**

**_6 Photon Torpedo Launchers_**

**_Transport:_**

**_Primary Docking Pylons: 6_**

**_Secondary Docking Ports: 9 on Docking Ring_**

**_Runabouts: 3 normally assigned_**

**_Shuttles: 4_**

**__**

**_History_**

**_Not much is yet known about the history of Jetal due to the planet only recently being researched and visited by _****Federation _scientists and historians. The many cultures of the early Jetallan civilizations involved many variations of a caste system. The main basis of the caste system is not yet known but certain physical traits have been determined as a factor. Many wars and coups were fought because of the restraints of the societal caste system. It has not yet been learned why the system was no longer used._**

**_The inhabitants of Jetal are currently at a pre-warp status but are highly developed in other technologies. The societal achievements in the evolving culture of the Jetallan home world centered on technological, militaristic, and biological/medical advancements while lesser so to rarely in theology and arts. By the year 2212, the Jetallans had successfully mastered interplanetary space travel and proceeded to plant colonies on two of the nearby orbiting planets, Jetal Tandorran and Jetal Uttand, of the Benall solar system. It is unknown whether schematics had yet been drawn to create a warp-type space vehicle._**

**_ In the year of 2349, the Cardassian Union moved into the sector where the Benall system is located approximately twenty-five light years from Cardassia Prime. During the following year, the Cardassians occupied the planet Jetal. The inhabitants, the only populated planetoid in the sector, were forced into work camps and encountered many of the same atrocities that were later devised on the planet Bajor. The planetary colonies were destroyed and the inhabitants moved back to the Jetallan home world to work in the camps.  The Cardassians forced the Jetallans to mine iron, cobalt, and other precious metals from the crust and mantle of their planet. The Cardassian posted by the Cardassian Union to oversee the system was Gul Camet._**

**_The occupation of Jetal continued through the alliance with the _**Dominion_ and the Dominion War with the _******Federation_. At the hand of the Jem'Hadar, the Jetallans on the station and planet were treated more inhumanely; used for experiments and hunting/training for the young Jem'Hadar. When the war was over, the station was abandoned by the Cardassians according to the new sections of the treaty signed. Section A3: Part 354 of the treaty designated the Terok Liptal station as a sentinel post for _Starfleet_ to watch the Cardassian Union. The station was liberated by _Starfleet_ officials and _Starfleet Command_ appointed a commanding officer to command the station as the _Starfleet_ presence in the sector. _**

****

**_Current Senior Crew Compliment:_**_                                            _****

**Commanding Officer****: _Cmdr. Jeanne Serea                              _**

**Jetallan First Officer****:_ Vice Cmdr. Vedrann Tennal*                  _**

**Second Officer****:_ To be assigned _**

**Chief Tactical/Security****:_ Lt. Cmdr.  Rilar Gital _**

**Asst. Tactical****:_ To be assigned_**

**Chief Medical Officer:****_Lt. Cmdr. Anja Senecal _**

**Asst. Medical Officer/Surgeon****:_ Bithar Keddan*_**

**Chief of Science****:_ Lt. Junior Grade L'Nara _**

**Asst. Science Officer****:_ To be assigned_**

**Chief Engineer****: _Lt. Syrreiya Naetharr **_**

**Asst. Engineer Officer****:_ Lt. James Michael  _**

****

**_            *Jetallan crew member_**

**_            **Starfleet trained Jetallan crew member _**

**__**

**_Information on the Planetoid: Jetal_****__**

****

**_            Inhabitants:_**

**_The Jetallans are humanoid in anatomy with variations in appearance similar to other humanoids. Features prominent for Jetallan identification are:_**

· **_The earlobes are shaped similarly to Vulcan ear structure but instead are curled at the top of the upper earlobe_**

· **_Markings along the neck consist of a light grayish tone . . ._**

Serea looked down from the padd for a moment. She had already read over the section discussing the planet and the basic environmental issues. She was not interested in reviewing schematics and history but instead wanted to learn more about the crew she would be working with. Serea picked up the stack of bios on her senior crew members. She particularly wanted to see what the Jetallan individuals were like, especially the liaison she would be working closely with. As she settled against the pillows on the couch once again, Serea began with another sip of her tea.


	3. New Personalities

**Chapter Two: New Personalities**

_A few hours later . . ._

Serea placed the last padd from the large stack of crew information on the desk with a relieved sigh; however, she was feeling the nipping of human discomfort more than ever. Admiral Necheyev was right; she certainly was going to have a tough time with her Jetallan crew. Her first officer, the liaison, Vice Commander Vedrann Tennal, was a former rebel fighter for seventeen years. He was described in the bio written by _Starfleet_ as a person who seemed to always be thinking but not a cold individual. However, it was also mentioned that he was difficult to cooperate with if his personal grudges became an obstacle in any negotiations involving the Dominion or Cardassians. 

The Chief Engineer's bio read like penal colony offender. A young and hot-headed Syrreiya Naetharr was assigned as the Chief Engineer due to her expert knowledge of the systems and workings of the station. The record of her enrollment showed she had been in a few scuffles with fellow cadets while taking a short crash course at the Academy. The young woman was no more than twenty-two years of age and was almost thrown out of her classes because of her behavior as well as lack of respect to commanding authority figures. However, no other Jetallan could match her amazing ability and talent with machinery and technology. Part of her undisciplined personality was due to her history. At a young age, she had been taken from her parents on a small labor camp to a science/experiment lab that the Cardassians had constructed in the northern continent of Jetal. There she had been treated with torture while being poked and prodded by the unscrupulous Cardassians. Luckily, she had been rescued by one of the rebel forces that stormed the compound.

Checking the chronometer on the wall, Serea noticed it was late. Before heading to bed, she sat herself on a mat lying across the floor. She lit some prayer candles and meditated in a short, solemn Vulcan prayer for those who had crossed her path in life, alive and dead. When she was finished she curled underneath the soft sheets and fell into a restless sleep. . .


	4. Running Away

**Chapter Three: Running Away**

_"I'll meet you on the surface. Harpin, out," finished Captain Harpin as the view screen's image of the _Starfleet_ ambassador disappeared and went dark. _

_He marched his way up the Bridge and towards the turbolift door._

_"Serea, you have the Bridge," he commanded as he began his exit._

_"Sir, I must disagree with this course of action," Serea said as the captain strode past her._

_She had learned how to keep her voice low enough so that only those in close proximity to her, and not those elsewhere on the Bridge, could hear what she said. The captain sighed deeply and glanced at her, and then at his crew, who in the meantime had noticed something had been questioned, as they watched from around the Bridge for his next move._

_"Fine, we will discuss it on my way to the Transporter Room," he grumbled. "McKinley, you have the Bridge."_

_The command pair stepped into the turbolift as Captain Harpin spoke out commands to the computer, "Deck 10."_

_"You know you aren't supposed to challenge my command on the Bridge," he spoke after a moment of silence._

_"I know, Jon," she said with a sigh. "But in the basics of command, the captain is not to leave the ship on any sort of Away __Mission__."_

_"I know the protocol. Give me an exception this time," he said with a chuckle. "You have all the fun as first officer. Always getting into phaser shoot-outs, the old diplomatic runs that I used to love so much . . ."_

_"It was your choice to take a command, so don't try blaming it on me," Serea countered, cutting him off with an amused smile._

_"Aw, thanks, Jeanne," he said with a caring tone. "It's always my fault."_

_"You know it," she said with a smile but after a moment, it slipped away. "Computer, halt turbolift."_

_"What are you doing that for?" Captain Harpin questioned in a fake surprise. "You know I am needed on the surface."_

_"Just promise me you will be careful, ok?" she asked, meeting his eyes with hers. "I have a bad feeling about this. I should be going down there, not you."_

_"I promise," he spoke softly as he came closer, wrapping his arms around her, and kissed her on her forehead. "I will be back to see you this evening for that dinner you have planned for us."_

_She felt more reassured with his comforting voice and sweet musty smell, but she still felt the insistent feeling in the back of her mind. _

_"Transporter Room 3 to Captain Harpin."___

_He sighed, "Harpin here."_

_"Sir, Ambassador Jonas and Head Minister Kiloc are hailing us and asked if you are on your way down," came the young crewman's voice._

_"I'm on my way," he said with a commanding tone. "Tell them I will be there shortly. Harpin out."_

_Serea lifted her head and their eyes met. He lowered his head and kissed her gently while his hand cupped her cheek softly. Her heart fluttered as she felt his lips touch hers delicately. She did not want him to stop and he could feel that in her touch, but he had to. After a moment, despite wanting to stay in the warmth of her presence, he relinquished._

_"I've got to go," he said._

_"I know," she said as they parted to a more professional stance. "Resume turbolift."_

_The Transporter Room opened up in front of them and they proceeded  to the transporter pad where Lt. Raleigh, Lt. Cmdr. Kaufmann, and Lt. Rolando, two of the best security officers on the ship and the ship's counselor joined the captain on the transporter pad to be beamed to the surface. _

_"The _Callahan_ will be waiting for you when you get back," she promised with a small smile to her crewmates and captain._

_"Don't have too much fun with her, you might not want to back down when I get back," Captain Harpin snickered. "See you soon."_

_The four figures then disappeared with a shimmering flash then followed by nothingness._

Serea awoke suddenly and shivered despite the warm temperature in her guest quarters. She felt her breathing coming hard and quick at first but was finally able to calm herself while untangling her legs from the twisted sheets of the bed. 

"Why don't these nightmares stop?!" she said harshly from her raspy throat.

Once again checking her chronometer, Serea found that the ship would be arriving at the station in the next three hours. She slumped out of bed and wobbled on still sleepy legs to the sonic shower where she could wash away the terrors of the night. In just a few hours, she would have a short meeting with the _Mandalay_'s captain and then take her few belongings to her new home.

_Three hours later . . ._

"Commander, if you would like to see _DS13_, you can look out the view port and get a good look at her," commented a young ensign who was helping Serea move her small carry-on bags to the Transporter Room.

"Thank you, Ensign," answered Serea. 

Glancing out the lengthwise view port on the way, Serea spotted the three upper pylons of the structure against a deep aqua-green colored ocean with dark burned land with no more than a few patches of green. As the ship took a starboard turn to meet at one of the upper pylons that was not occupied, a better view of the circular docking ring and habitat ring appeared. 

_Not much different from DS9, thought Serea to herself and then spoke out loud to the ensign. "We should continue moving."_

"Yes, sir," said the young man as he carried one of her bags along with them.

Taking one more look out the window, Serea tried to imagine what Jetal might have looked like a century ago, not long before the Cardassians ravaged and raped their planet. 

"It would've looked as beautiful as Earth," whispered Serea as she made her last few steps to the Transporter Room. 


	5. The Beginning

**Chapter Four: The Beginning**__

"One hour . . . ," commented Serea under her breath. "One hour . . . I have been on this heap of junk of a space station for one hour and I already know this was a bad idea."

Serea couldn't believe her pointed ears as she heard herself mutter such words. It had been nearly six months since she had spoken as such, not long before her Vulcan cleansing. 

"Great, just great," muttered Serea as she swept her face into her hands and through her dark brown hair.

The station was in better shape than she had expected. The Jetallans had cleaned up most of the wreckage that had been caused when the Cardassians left their station after their defeat to the _Federation_ in the Dominion War. Many of the shops on the Promenade deck were already set for trades with possible incoming vessels that would begin arriving for business. _Starfleet_ was trying its best to help Jetal back on its feet and plenty of _Federation_ vessels would be docking in the next thirty-six hours.

Serea had visited her quarters first to rid herself of all her bags and belongings before taking her own tour of the station. She was on her way to the Command Center where she would meet her new first officer. Serea believed that she would be able to work fairly well with Vedrann, or else, since they both would have to work together closely for however long she was assigned to _DS13_.

Upon entering from the lift, Serea found a disordered chaos of rummaging _Starfleet _officers and Jetallan crew members. The Command Center certainly had not been spared in the departure of the Cardassians. The Center was the worst off and barely half of the room had been refitted.

To her side, she noticed the plaque that _Starfleet _had dedicated to the station like they did for all _Starfleet _stations and starships. It read, "_Stars hide your fires. Let what light not see my black and deep desires._"

Serea sighed with a slight shake of her head, "Shakespeare..."

Sensing a nearby presence, Serea turned to find a young Jetallan man watching her from a few meters away.

"You must be our new commander from _Starfleet_," assumed the officer in his thick accent. "Vedrann Tennal, it is . . . nice to finally meet you, Commander." 

Vedrann's calm demeanor stunned Serea for a moment and caught her off-guard from the situation at hand but she quickly nodded and acknowledged his outstretched, gloved hand.

"It is good to meet you, too, Vice Commander. Tennal," Serea commented with a respectful nod of her head.

"Call me Vedrann, please," smiled the Jetallan. "It makes me uncomfortable to be called by my other name."

"So noted," complied Serea and privately reminded herself to look up more information on Jetallan name customs.

A sudden, small explosion and crash of metal jostled the two from their conversation and their attention diverted to the other side of the room.

"I told you to use the transducer coil on that power conduit!" yelled a young, dark-haired Jetallan woman in a _Starfleet_ engineering uniform. "Don't you _humans_ and _Starfleet_-types ever listen?!"  

"Syrreiya . . .," hushed Vedrann from across the landing. "Be nice and patient."

"I have been trying to be but these _letyra_ don't know a composure module from a space modulator!" exclaimed the young Jetallan woman with much emphasis on the native insult she used in her speech.

"No, come here," Vedrann said keeping a calm appearance. "I want you to meet our new commander."

Syrreiya climbed the nearby ladder and came face to face with Serea, her grey-purplish eyes flashing at the new commander. 

"It is a pleasure," Syrreiya said with a slight head tilt and with very little truth in her voice at the welcoming. "Now, if you will excuse me, I have repairs to return to."

With a fast whip of her hair, Syrreiya was back on the bottom level crawling underneath a panel to fix the power conduit.

"I will have to apologize for her behavior," Vedrann said with some displeasure in his voice. "She is not very fond of _Starfleet_ even though the _Federation is giving us much needed help and aid."_

"I understand, no apology is necessary," Serea said as she watched after the engineer and then thought to herself. _This is going to be a long assignment. . ._


	6. Friends

**Chapter Five: Friends**

            "Mama?" the child questioned softly.

            The woman did not stir from her silent gaze at the star light streaking by the windows.

            "_Mama!" the child cried more insistently. _

            The woman's gaze shifted as she finally heard the calls of the child. Her eyes fell to the tiny person tugging on her uniform. She smiled at the little one's blue eyes sparkling while she giggled.

            "Mama, what were you looking at?" the little girl asked.

            "Nothing, sweet Katja," the mother replied.

            "There can't be nothing," Katja replied as she climbed into her mother's lap on the chair. "There's always something."

            "Now you're sounding like your father," the mother replied with a soft sigh as she draped her arms around her daughter.

            The child remained quiet after her mother spoke. She found a few loose strands of her mother's hair that had strayed from the tightly made, rope-like braid. She laid her head against her mother's chest as she twirled the hair strands in her fingers. She could hear the echoing thump of her mother's heart inside and it comforted her a little more.

            "When is Daddy going to come?" Katja asked.

            "Soon," she assured her. "He's a very busy person, your father is."

            "Is he mad at us?" she said with some sadness.

            "No, of course not!" the mother cooed as she ran one of her hands over Katja's hair. "Why do you think he's mad at us?"

            "He was yelling," Katja softly said. "Before we left, it was after my birthday."

            The mother thought for a moment and realized what the little girl was thinking about.

            "Your father wasn't yelling…"

            "He was really loud," Katja said quickly, cutting her mother off.

            "Yes, he can be very loud but he was not yelling at the time," the mother said, carefully choosing her words. "We had a disagreement."

            "About what?" Katja asked.

            The mother sighed; her daughter was of the age when children are full of questions. She did not want to scare her daughter with the truth but she could not let herself hide Katja from it either.

            "Mama?" Katja called squirming slightly.

            "_Liebchen, Daddy will be coming to be with us in a few weeks," she explained tediously. "But he might be different."_

            "Why different?"

            Her voice was caught in her throat, how could one explain the situation to such a young child? One so young, so innocent, and who loved her father so dearly. She could feel the anguish of feeling betrayed inside building up again. She held back the urge to cry, she could not do that in front of Katja, not now. She could try to explain the procedure to Katja, but her daughter hated it when she went into, as Katja put it, 'doctor mode'. She had to remain the loving mother figure at this time in her daughter's life.

            The sudden feeling of slowing momentum became apparent and the two of them glanced out the window to see that the stars had stopped their streaking. She could see the shining crescent of a nearby gas planet as the starship crossed its orbital path on its way further into the solar system. 

            _We're here…_

*          *          *

            "Katja, stay by me," she called after her daughter.

            She could see the little brunette head bobbing ahead of her with her favorite teddy bear in one arm and the other swinging as she skipped along. She quickened her pace to catch up to Katja and caught the swinging arm and held the tiny hand to keep her close. The corridors were busy with many _Starfleet crewmembers moving about with preparations. _

            "Mama, you walk too fast," Katja complained as she attempted to keep pace with her mother's long strides.

            "Come here," she said as she stopped and hefted her daughter to her hip. "Now hold on tight."

            They made their way further along the hallways and finally came upon the hatch. Next to the hatch where people were going out stood…

            "Uncle Hendrik!" squealed Katja as she stretched out her arms to embrace the man standing by their exit.

            "How is my favorite niece?" the tall commander bellowed as he received Katja, who gave him the biggest hug she could muster with her small arms around his neck. "And how's my favorite sister?"

            Katja giggled as she rested her head against her uncle's broad shoulders and smiled at her mother.

            "We are fine, just ready to see our new home," she replied to her brother.

            "Anja, are you absolutely sure about this?" Hendrik asked on a more serious tone. "You don't have to take this assignment if you don't want to."

            "I must," Anja replied. "They need expert medical facilities in this part of the quadrant, especially if the _Federation_ is planning a permanent presence."

            "It doesn't have to be you," he said quietly as he let Katja slide down to her feet on the ground.

            Anja did not answer him but only looked him in the eye defiantly. He knew what her answer was and why. They already had this discussion many times on the way.

            "Just take care of yourself," he said. "The _Titus will be docked for another twenty-four hours. I'm on duty this shift but I will make sure I come by before we depart."_

            Anja nodded in acknowledgement and then said, "I'll see you soon."

*          *          *

            "Our new commander arrived this morning," Rilar commented.

            "Great, just what we need," Michael replied. "I hope he's not too stuffy or uptight."

            "_She's a Vulcan," his friend chuckled. "Don't you read the reports?"_

            "Oh, perfect. And no, I don't read them," Michael frowned. "What are you trying to do? Distract me?"

            "No, no. Go ahead," Rilar motioned with a hearty smile spread wide across his face.

            "Good," Michael said turning back to the table and positioning himself to hit the ball.

            "Did that Jetallan engineer give you hell again today?" Rilar asked from his stool.

            Michael waited and then made his shot. He grimaced as the ball ricocheted the opposite way he wanted.

            "Why do you say that?"

            "You're in a bad mood," Rilar said from his observation.

            "At first I thought you were going to insult the way I am playing dom-jot," he retorted with a sarcastic sneer.

            "Well, that too," Rilar laughed.

            "Hey, look over there," Michael said glancing through the empty game room out to the Promenade deck. "We have a visitor."

            Rilar turned and noticed a human woman in a _Starfleet_ medical uniform stepping over some of the wreckage and damage of the station that was yet to be repaired. She came walking into the establishment where they sat. The lighting on the whole station was dim but her blond hair still shined brightly. Her face however, though seemingly no older than her mid-thirties, was covered with worry and the scars of long years past. The two men stood and turned to her as she came their way.

            "Lieutenant, Commander," she said addressing them both. "Would either of you be so kind to show me where the nearest lift is?"

            "Certainly," Rilar answered with an honorable bow of his head. 

            Rilar and Michael walked to the other entrance of the game hall and exited out onto the open walkway of the Promenade deck. The woman followed them until they came to the nearest lift.

            "Thank you very much," she replied with a small, soft smile on her thin lips.

            "We are glad to help," Rilar politely said and smiled in return. "By the way, my name is Lieutenant Commander Rilar Gital. If you need anything else, I would be happy to oblige." 

            "The station's Chief Tactical officer," the woman replied as she shook his hand that he had outstretched to her. "It is a pleasure."

            "And I am Lieutenant James Michael," chipped in Rilar's friend who had surprisingly stayed quiet up until that moment. "Assistant Chief Engineer."

            "Doctor Anja Senecal, Chief Medical Officer," she replied identifying herself.

            A small movement behind the doctor caught both men's attention.

            "Oh, I didn't see your daughter there," Rilar exclaimed as he saw the tiny pair of eyes peering from behind her mother's legs.

            "Say hello, Katja," Senecal prompted her daughter.

            "Hello," the little girl quietly said, still shyly peering at the two men, and then focusing her gaze on Rilar.

            "Good day, Katja," Rilar said as he kneeled to be at her height.

            "I never met a Bajoran before," she said with wide eyes.

            "Well, I am pleased to be your first Bajoran friend," he said, once again flashing his warm smile.

            "You'll be my friend?" she asked happily.

            "If you would like me to be," he said. "And I see your spots, so you can be my first half-Trill friend."

            "Ok," the little girl agreed with a tiny, shy smile and traced a couple fingers along her own neck as if she almost forgot the markings that had always been there.

            "Come, Katja. We must be going," Senecal advised her a little nervously as they walked towards the lift and then turned to Rilar and Michael. "Thank you again for directing us."

            "No problem," Michael replied with a wave.

            Senecal smiled with a nod in their direction, her deep ocean blue eyes glancing at Michael and then switched to Rilar. He held her gaze with his own dark brown eyes for a moment until she broke it herself as she entered the lift. Michael and Rilar turned and made their way back along the walkway.

            "You charmer," Michael said sarcastically.

            "What?" Rilar said sincerely surprised.

            "You're such a ladies man," his friend replied. "You always steal all the women's attention and affection."

            "You must be joking," Rilar retorted with a laugh. "She had your Earth custom of a wedding ring on her hand, did you not notice?"

            "I saw the way you had her looking at you," Michael said with a playful shove and then laughed. "Why were you looking for a ring anyway?"

            "Oh leave me alone!" Rilar said playfully shoving Michael back as they entered the game hall. "Get back in there and play another game of dom-jot. At least that will keep you from spouting your mouth off."


	7. Challenges

**Chapter Six: Challenges**

            Syrreiya Naetharr wandered alone along the Promenade deck. She was on business and nothing else. If _Starfleet wanted its new precious space station up and running in prime condition, she would get it done but it would be on her timeframe not _Starfleet_'s. She carried her personal toolbox with her on her way to a fluctuating power conduit that ran through the Promenade._

            The walkway was mostly cleared of debris and was repaired over the past month once the _Federation had come in after having negotiations with the temporary Jetallan government. Minor structural repairs were still needed but that was not her concern. Her priorities were just to keep the station running for the time being. _

            She found herself standing outside of what was to become the Infirmary. Not all of the bulkheads were sealed off yet, pending more reconstruction and design, so she entered the medical facility.

            "Are you here to tear apart more of my facility?" came a familiar voice.

            Naetharr turned to face one of her fellow Jetallan crewmates. Bithar Keddan came out from behind a pillar in the room and faced her. His dark raven hair was dusted gray as was his black and blue Jetallan work-uniform from his working inside the infirmary but his grayish eyes glowed from within.

            "No, I'm here to fix a power conduit," she replied in their native Jetallan tongue.

            He replied, but in _Federation Standard, "Sorry, I did not know it was you."_

            Naetharr eyed him carefully and returned in suit, "You want to speak in their language?"

            "I want to learn and I need to practice," Keddan said as he walked past her to the other side of the room to move some bulkhead plates off a console. "Besides, you're wearing their uniform."

            Naetharr glared at him but did not answer. Instead, she walked over to one of the open panels to run the diagnostic on the power conduit before repairing it.

            "You need to be patient," Keddan said, cutting into the silence. "Once they feel they have met their goals of helping us, they will leave."

            "I don't think so," Naetharr replied as she finished the diagnostic and pulled out some tools from her toolbox. "Look at Bajor; they have been there for several years now."

            "That is because of the Wormhole," he countered. "They have a reason to always stay there. Here… what do we have to offer the _Federation_?"

            _They have reasons they do not know of yet_, she thought to herself. _They will find out eventually and use us just like the Cardassians did._

            "I'm finished here," she said as she replaced her tools in her toolbox.

            "Good, now I can maybe get things in order here," he said as he moved some paneling plates to their proper places.

            "I will stay and help you," she said suddenly as she took the panel that fit into the hole she was just working at.

            "Thank you Syrreiya," he said with a nod in her direction.

*          *          *

            Lieutenant Michael strode with a confident walk as he went about his way. He had gotten over his earlier annoyance at Naetharr and had practically forgotten the heated disagreement the two of them had earlier. Things of no importance did not last long in his mind and for good reason in his opinion too, no use thinking about such petty events. He came upon the Science Lab and entered through the parted doors.

            "Hello, L'Nara," he greeted the dark hazelnut skinned scientist seated at one of the consoles.

            "Lieutenant," she answered stoically, not glancing away from the screen she was looking at.

            "What are you up to?" he asked as he leaned over the top of the console at her.

            "I am scanning cultures I collected from different coordinates from across Jetal," she replied.

            "Sounds like fun," he said dryly.

            "Vulcans do not 'have fun'," she said finally shifting her dark brown eyes up at him.

            "Too bad," he said standing up straight.

            "We participate in activities that stimulate our minds," she replied. "You can call that our 'fun'." 

            "Then that means you won't be joining Rilar and I for a small tournament series of dom-jot?" he questioned as he came around the console and sat in one of the nearby chairs. "Or ping pong perhaps?"

            He saw her long fingers stop from their movement on the console.

            "Ping pong?"

            "You're telling me you have never heard of ping pong?" he asked somewhat stunned. "I thought Vulcans knew everything."

            "We learn what we wish to know," she answered. "Games are not as stimulating to me as cellular structure or bacterial growth."

            "Was that supposed to be a joke?" he asked.

            Her silence answered for him and he sighed heavily.

            "Ah, well, ping pong is an old Earth game," he started. "It's like a smaller version of tennis and is actually called table tennis."

            "I am familiar with tennis," L'Nara replied.

            "However, ping pong has a smaller ball and you use a small paddle instead of a racquet on a table that is 2.7 by 1.5 meters," he described.

             "On the smaller scale one must have great accuracy and reflexes in order to defeat an opponent," she observed.

            "Yeah, but the point of the game isn't so much in defeating an opponent," he explained. "It's also in testing the other player's limits and abilities."

            "And therefore is 'fun'?" she replied. 

            "Exactly!" he said pointing at her. "I finally got through to you."

            "No," she said as she resumed her testing.

            "No?" he asked.

            "I am not going to play ping pong in your tournament," she answered.

            "Why not?" he questioned.

            "I do not have the time to play a game to entertain you," she said.

            "What do you mean?" he said surprised.

            "You need another player to, as humans say, 'liven things up'," she replied. "You are bored with playing, or perhaps losing, to Commander Rilar and need a new challenge."

            "Now where did you get that idea?" he said, showing shock on his face but inside he felt like tearing his hair out. _She can't stick me that easily…_

            "You are predictable," she elaborated.

            "Are you so sure?" he said with an evil gleam in his eye.

            She raised an arched eyebrow in response to his challenge.

*          *          *

            "Eleven to eleven," Rilar said glancing at the computerized score keeper. "Your serve, James."

            Rilar sat back on his stool in the holosuite room programmed for a ping pong tournament hall. He watched Michael prepare for his serve and observed L'Nara standing as straight and tall as she normally did without a hint of fatigue or adrenaline. It was the third game and both Michael and L'Nara had won once. Michael had won the first match as L'Nara learned the basics of the game but she had come back with a strong backhand after observing his movements and returns.

            "I'm not going to let you win," Michael said as he prepared his serve.

            "You have played well so far," she replied. "The odds however are against you."

            "We'll see about that," he mumbled under his breath as he served the ball over the net.

            They rallied together for a while, both hitting the ball back and forth in a rhythmic pattern of an echoing clack as the ball hit against the surface of the table on each side. The ball's white color contrasted against the deep green of the table as it flew over the net and would bounce on its wooden surface. L'Nara's quick Vulcan eyes noticed Michael attempting to set up an attack hit he had used on her during their first game. She prepared herself for his slap to the left side of her half of the table. Suddenly, his swing swerved its angle and he tapped the ball lightly to her right side. She moved her paddle quickly but her Vulcan reflexes were not quick enough to hit the ball over the net before it bounced twice.

            "Twelve to eleven!" Rilar exclaimed from the sideline. "Remember, he has to beat you by two points."

            "Not as predictable as you thought?" Michael gleefully grinned at L'Nara.

            "It was a good hit," she replied.

            "You won't give me any credit, will you?" he said as he prepared another serve.

            "Credit will be given when it is due," she replied as he served her the ball.

            For more than two minutes, they rallied against each other, both using the skills they knew or learned. The speed picked up on the delivery of the ball to each side. Michael was staring after the ball intently, completely concentrating on the game.

            "Commander," came a voice from one of the entrances of the holosuite as the doors parted open. "Lieutenants!"

            The sudden call interrupted Michael's concentration and he shifted his paddle too far forward of an angle. He attempted to return the ball but it bounced off the net without going over. 

            "No!!!" he cried out and then spun around to see who had come in during the game. 

            "Did we interrupt your game?" Vedrann asked from the entrance, another person standing next to him.

            "No, sir," Rilar replied before Michael could answer, knowing that his friend was taking the game very seriously.

            "Good," Vedrann said. "Now..."

            "I am Commander Serea, your new commanding officer," said the person who entered with Vedrann.

            "Yes," Vedrann said, taking a moment to pause after her quick introduction that he was about to give for her. "I was showing Commander Serea around the station and knew I could find at least two of you here." He nodded towards Rilar and Michael as he spoke.

            "Commander, these officers are Lt. Commander Rilar Gital, Lt. James Michael, and Lt. L'Nara," Vedrann said motioning towards each of them as he said their names.

            Serea glanced at each of them and bowed her head in honorable acknowledgement. L'Nara returned the Vulcan greeting as well but as she lifted her head, she hesitated for a moment then completely raised her head. She eyed Serea almost curiously for a moment, the commander met her glance but then turned away to address all of them.

            "Gentlemen," Serea said. "I should be continuing on my tour of the station. I will see you on duty tomorrow at oh-eight-hundred."

            "Yes, sir," the threesome said in unison.

            Serea about-faced with Vedrann taking a quick step to keep up next to the commander as the door slid closed behind them.

            L'Nara stared at the door a moment longer. She had a strange feeling that she had received from Serea. She could not define it but it was much different from other Vulcans she would meet.

            "L'Nara…?" Michael said as he glanced at her almost trancelike state. 

            "Yes?" she said snapping back to her crewmates. 

            "It's your serve," Rilar answered.

            He handed her the ball and she prepared to serve it over the net.

            "Lt. L'Nara, scans of specimens 24 dash A are complete," the station computer voice announced suddenly.

            "Are you that worried about your tiny cultures that you have to have the computer tell you when it's done scanning them?" Michael said in exasperation.

            "It is imperative I see the results before more changes occur," she informed him as she set the ball and paddle on the table.

            "Where are you going?" Michael asked after her as she walked out of the holosuite. "We're not finished here."

            She did not answer as the doors slid shut behind her.

            "I had her! She knows it," Michael said to Rilar absolutely confident in himself.

            "I'm sure you did," Rilar chuckled with a pat on Michael's back.


	8. Demons Within

There's a slightly erotic scene (not slash) contained in this chapter, giving the story the rating of PG13. If you do not wish to read this portion of the chapter, stop at the section where I have marked it so and continue where I have marked it again.

**Chapter Seven: Demons**

The stars burn so far away and distant in the cold of space. One could forget and become lost staring out into the beyond… so alone in the coldness that envelopes its vastness.

The docking ring was clearly visible a few hundred meters away from the habitat ring of the middle ring where Serea stood in her quarters gazing out the window. The pylons, tall and domineering, stretched out perpendicular from the curve of the docking ring. The _Titus_, one of the few _Excelsior_ class starships that had survived the brutal Dominion War, was noticeable in its position, docked at Upper Pylon 3. The ship's bright white exterior hull shined every few seconds as the docking lights in the pylon blinked. Soon Jetal would be in view as the station continued its rotation in its orbit. A semi-colorful mosaic of blues, tans, and browns setting the background to the dull copper tinted grey of the station.

After finishing her tour with Vedrann, she had returned to her quarters. Serea had yet to meet all of her senior officers, specifically her medical personnel. Her Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Senecal, had arrived on the _Titus_ a couple hours after she did on the _Mandalay _and Serea was sure she was busy with settling in at the station. The Jetallan assistant of the doctor, Bithar Keddan, was also on her list of officers to meet so Serea made it a point to herself to visit the Infirmary again in hopes of finding one or both of the two senior officers from her medical team.

Serea stepped away from the window in her quarters. The dining and living area was spread out in front of her but was void of much furniture besides a few tables and chairs for temporary decoration. She walked slowly into the bedroom and glanced at several of her bags placed across the queen sized bed. She already had found the sheets she had brought so she first made the bed with the plain, soft green sheets and covers before going on to other belongings she had decided to bring along her new journey. A number of her bags were once full of clothes and uniforms but were now empty. The last two full bags, bulky in some sections, sat at the head of the bed.

She reached for the nearest bag and opened it to find her Vulcan prayer ritual items. Serea had not brought a low table for her small shrine of candles and incense. She glanced around the semi-bare room and decided the top of her dresser would do for the time being. She brushed off whatever dust was present with the sleeve of her uniform and placed the box containing her ritual items in front of her. She would set them up later that night for her prayer before going to sleep. The rest of the bag contained items for her bathroom so she carried the entire bag with her to unpack it all.

After she finished, Serea came back to the bedroom and opened her final bag. She found some of her decorative collection of items placed inside. She opened a box containing a Klingon ceremonial _taj_, or dagger. She had received it from a Klingon captain after a victorious collaborative battle against a large number of ships from the _Dominion_ fleet during the war. Serea placed the box carefully next to her on the bed so she may finish removing all the items before determining where to place them around her quarters. Next was a colorful abalone shell that had been given to her by her human mother many years ago. She did not bring many personal items and had planned on later obtaining things to place around her quarters, but within the means of a Vulcan. Most Vulcans had sparse decorations around their quarters or homes. Material items were not seen as extremely important.

She shuffled around the nearly empty bag and her fingers clasped a smooth wood object with stylish curves and cuts. Retrieving the item from the depths of the bag, she realized what it was.

_ "Please, take it with you. That's all I ask," he said._

_She took the framed picture from Raleigh and looked at it._

_ "It's from the birthday party we had for…"_

_ "I know what it is from," she cut him off._

_ "We shouldn't forget them," he said._

_ "I won't forget them," she replied._

_ "You threw away all the pictures you have of them," he said, the hurt obviously displayed in his voice. "Memories cannot be the only thing to keep. It's not enough."_

_ "It is enough for me," she said without remorse or a hint of emotion._

_ "You've changed, Serea," he said shaking his head. "I don't like it but I've tried all I can do. It's that stubbornness you've always had. It's not the right path."_

_ "It's what I had to do," she said while still holding the picture in her hands._

_ "Please," he said, placing his hands on hers. "Just take it, do it for me."_

Serea felt her hands shake slightly as she viewed the picture. She dusted some stray fuzz and dust that had landed on the glass to make it clear and clean. She recognized Raleigh, a large smile across his face, with his arm slung across the shoulders of Kaufman, both men with a glass of champagne in hand. Kaufman had his free hand wrapped around Rolando, her petite figure even more defined next to Kaufman's tall stature. And there she was… herself of three years ago, holding a glass of champagne like the others. The last person's right hand rested on her hip and hugged her close to him, also holding a glass of champagne in his left hand. He was smiling along with the rest of them, enjoying the moment… as happy as could be.

Serea clutched the picture close to her chest and held it tightly. She could see it happen all over again before her eyes. She took a deep breath and released her grip on the frame. Pulling out the stand attached to the back of the frame, she placed the picture on her bedside nightstand. She shifted it so that it faced the bed more than the doorway of the bedroom.

"I can never forget," she whispered.

"She's tucked into bed, snug as a bug. Fast asleep, too," Hendrik Senecal told his sister as he came into the living room. "I left the lights on dim in her room, she was afraid of it being too dark."

"Thank you," she replied with a tired smile.

Anja Senecal set her vanilla flavored coffee on the table in front of her and then sat back against the couch that was one of many items the _Titus_ had brought for officers' quarters. Her brother rounded the table and sat next to her. They did not speak immediately, a silence emanated between them as neither one knew what to say, until Hendrik broke the silence.

"When will Lorias come to be with you?" he asked about her husband.

"He will be here next month," she answered not looking him in the eye but only at her coffee mug. "His testing is finished so now he's waiting for a match. If he doesn't get one this term, he'll try again the next chance he's near Trill."

"From the sound of it, you don't like what he's doing," Hendrik said staring at his sister, he knew her all too well.

"Not particularly," she conceded.

"Did he take that into consideration before doing this?" he asked her. "What it would mean for you and Katja?"

"Yes," she said simply.

"Why do you think I don't believe you when you say that?" he asked flatly.

"You can believe whatever you want to, Hendrik," she said as she closed her eyes. She did not want to get into the details with him over this.

He sighed heavily at her remark. He knew his sister had a lot on her mind and riding on her shoulders attempting to hold her family together. She had to do it for Katja more than for herself.

"Just let me know how everything goes," he said as he stood. "Keep in touch with me as often as you can."

"I always do," she said, finally raising her eyes to her tall, older brother.

His blue eyes searched her similar ones for an answer or maybe a call for help to get her out of her situation but nothing came. She stood and wrapped her arms around him, one over his shoulder and the other under his other arm. He wrapped his arms around her in a big brotherly bear hug. She reached around his neck with her hand to hug him. She could feel the edge hairs of his thinning blond hair touch her fingertips.

_If only I could protect you just like when we were kids_, he thought to himself.

"I'll try to visit the next time I have a long shore leave or when I'm in the sector," he said into her ear.

"That would be nice," she responded hugging him tighter. "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you, too," he said as they drew away from each other.

She walked him to the door of her quarters and tapped the pad on the wall beside the doorframe to open the sliding door.

"Bye, Anja."

"Goodbye."

She stuck her head out of the door and watched him walk slowly down the hallway, his back at a slight hunch. She could tell that he was worried about her but he had to let his baby sister lead her life.

He finally disappeared around a bend in the corridor and Senecal stepped back inside, locking the door. She wrapped her arms around herself, feeling slightly chilled. Despite having her coffee, she felt exhausted and spent. She made her way into the hallway that led to the bedrooms. She peeked inside Katja's room and saw her little one sleeping silently with her arms clutching the teddy bear close to her. She left the door cracked open in case Katja had a bad dream or called for her in the middle of the night and became scared in this new place that she did not know.

Entering her own bedroom, Senecal glanced around. Storage bins with their belongings were stacked in a corner. One was open from when she earlier pulled out the linens to make the beds. She did not feel like pulling out more things and working, she would leave that for tomorrow. Walking into the attached bathroom, she pulled off the hair tie that held her hair tightly together. She unwound the tendrils of hair like the winding down of a long day. Collecting her hairbrush from one of the carry-on bags she had placed in the bathroom, she began brushing her long blond hair.

_"Anja, what is wrong?" he demanded loudly._

_"Nothing."_

_"Please talk to me," he said much more softly as he touched her loose hair lightly with his fingertips._

Senecal laid her brush on the counter and began undressing for bed. A flannel pair of pajamas she had laid out was sitting on the counter next to the sink. She slipped out of her boots first, then her pants. She left them lying on the floor, she was too tired to pick them up now. She pulled on the pajama pants over her thin legs and moved her shirt portion of the uniform, the thin blue turtleneck marking her rank and medical distinction was thrown to the side with the rest of her clothes. She threw on the pajama shirt and moved back to her bedroom. Pulling back the sheets, she climbed into bed.

"Computer, lights out," she commanded.

The lights dimmed and the room was pitch black except for a sliver of light coming from her slightly open door to the hallway.

_"Anja, darling, I want to know what is wrong."_

_"It doesn't matter, your mind is set," she said, her back to him as she lay in bed. "It always has been since you were young."_

_"I want to know what you think about what I am doing," he said as he caressed her shoulder gently._

_"I don't know what I think," she answered._

_"That's not an acceptable answer for me."_

_"I worry for our daughter, Lorias. She loves you so much," Anja said quietly, she could feel a tear trickle out of her eye and fall onto the pillow cover below. "She'll notice the difference."_

_She could hear him sigh deeply, his hand still trailing along her bare arm and shoulder, playing with the strap to her silky nightgown. _

_"She's still young, she won't notice that much," he said trying to convince her. "It's not like the other Trill symbiont reliance that goes on, this one won't take over my personality completely."_

_"It still will change it," she said, not budging one inch from her opinion. "I'm a doctor, not a child. I know what happens in a joining."_

_"Then you know I will still be me," he said insistently._

_"Not the same man I fell in love with," she finally let out. A quick sob escaped her throat but she was able to hold the last of it back._

_"Anja, come here," he said gently rocking her onto her back to face him._

_He traced his fingers along her face as he leaned over her, his light blue eyes nearly grey, searching her ocean blue ones in the moonlight. He had his pajama pants on but his chest was bare, his brown Trill spots standing out against his pale skin. The markings blended into his light brown hair and came down along both his temples where they flowed over his collarbone, fell along his chest and finally curved outward again at his hips but were hidden by his clothing._

_"I will always be the man you fell in love with," he said gently._

_He leaned down and kissed her lips tenderly, his hand brushed over her loose blond hair. She wanted him, but it was no longer the same. He had already changed so much in the past year. Was it the war that changed him? Perhaps. Or was it her who had changed? No, she did not change; she was not the one making a life altering choice. She could feel their love slipping away from them because of how he was handling their lives without much discretion._

_Suddenly, he kissed her much more deeply while pressing himself up against her. She reached up and ran her fingers through his light brown hair. Oh, how she loved to do that and especially how he enjoyed her doing so. But this time was different; he did not notice her intimate touch._

_She felt him shift his weight and now he was on top of her, pressing down upon her with his torso. She could feel his erection pressing against her through their clothing. It was strong and hard as he pushed it against where he wanted it to go._

_He slid his arms underneath her back and squeezed her close as he pressed his tongue into her mouth, still sweet tasting from the fruit they had after dinner. She did not resist and let herself be swept away by him, she longed for his touch that he used to have. As she wrapped her arms around his chest and around his back, she hoped so much that it would come back this time they made love like so many other times before._

_One of his hands slid away from underneath the small of her back and traced along the right side of her neck. He moved his face down to the left side of her neck, kissing gently and teasing her with his tongue by tickling the spots he knew were sensitive. She could feel his left hand beneath her, rubbing outside of her silky nightgown and then back up to the open portion where her bare back was exposed. _

_She felt him move his right hand down her bare arm, following along to where her elbow bent. He left her arm and traced the outline of her hip on the outside of her nightgown down to where her thigh finally was exposed. He wrapped his fingers around her uncovered leg, his breathing coming faster and stronger as he suckled her neck. He moved his hand up, underneath her nightgown, pressing his thumb into the small dimple where her leg joined her body. He rubbed his fingers along the spot and up over her stomach. _

_"Lieber," she gasped the word 'lover' softly into his ear in her native Earth language._

_"Let me show you how I love you," he said bringing his face above hers, his eyes deep pools of excitement, not the ones she had always recognized._

Her eyes opened and he was no longer there. She was alone in bed far away from home between the cold sheets. Senecal could feel her breathing coming fast and hard from within her. _Only a dream_, she thought to herself as she realized it was of the last night she and Lorias spent together before they went their separate ways; he to the Symbiosis Commission and she to _Deep Space 13_. She felt her heart almost tear apart deep inside her chest as a sob racked her body. She covered her mouth with her hand as to not wake Katja. She felt her body convulse again with the need to cry out but she held back. Pulling the covers closer, Senecal crawled deeper into the sheets and tried to fall back asleep, hopefully dreamless this time.


	9. Changes

**Chapter Eight: Changes**

            "Some of our ships patrolling the former border of the Cardassian Union near Ferenginar have sent reports stating that insurgent Breen ships have been spotted and engaged," Admiral Kethor briefed. "There have also been raids on _Federation,__ non-aligned, and Ferengi cargo and supply ships heading toward devastated planets within the Union and other areas throughout those sectors. We are not concerned about them becoming a severe threat to you; however, the borders are being overrun more often by these renegades."_

            "What does the Breen government have to say about these incursions?" Serea asked. 

            The Bolian Admiral visibly sighed and he leaned forward toward the screen, "The Breen have been in anarchy since the end of the war and the coup that overthrew the former government did not help the situation either. Our connections through the former Cardassian Embassy on the home world have not been heard from in some time and our minimal amount of ships in their space have proved little to no help in controlling the situation. _Starfleet Command wants to create a stronger military presence nearby Cardassia, rather than near the Breen home world."_

            "What measures does _Starfleet_ plan on taking to change the current atmosphere of this section of the Alpha Quadrant?" Serea asked with an upturned eyebrow.

            "I'm glad you asked," Kethor replied as he retrieved a padd from his desk. "The upgrading of our forces in the area will be greater than previously intended. The _Federation wants to add other aligned control in the area to help _Starfleet_ with the temporary occupation of Cardassian space, including scouts and occasional patrols from the Klingons and possibly the Romulans, as well as building up weaponry and defense at _Deep Space 13_."_

            "The new changes will require more crew on site," Serea paused for a moment and then continued. "Will we be receiving additional crew to cover these upgrades to the station? 

            "Yes," the admiral nodded. "Your Second Officer, Lieutenant Commander Christopher Raleigh, and Assistant Tactical officer, Lieutenant Shannal Haldia, will be arriving within the next few days. Special permission was granted for faster warp speeds in order to get them to you sooner. _Starfleet_ is not going to send anymore Science personnel because it is not high on the agenda for the time being but extra medical will be arriving within the next month."

            "What ship will they be arriving on?" Serea asked quickly.

            "The _USS Victoria will have them onboard and also will be delivering several of the retrofitting materials needed for the update," the admiral explained. "Now, let's go over what the set schedule __Starfleet has put together for your sector…"            _

*          *          *

            "You're here early," Naetharr commented after stepping off the lift and noticing Vedrann in the Command Center.

            "I wasn't the first," he commented with a wry smile in Naetharr's direction. "Commander Serea was here before oh-six-hundred."

            "Two hours ahead of the shift?" Naetharr scoffed. "What is she? An android?"

            "Syrreiya… she's not as bad as you think," Vedrann answered as he glanced up at the metal and glass doors to Serea's office. "But she's talking to somebody important."

            They could see through the panels of glass where Serea sat in the chair at her desk with ramrod straight posture as she interacted with the desktop and whoever was on it. Her brunette hair was pulled tightly back in a plain, yet complicated design and her pointed ears were clearly visible against her head. 

            "Ah, yes," Naetharr interrupted his observing, her voice thickened with her accent whenever she felt like being crass with her words. "I forgot you spent time taking her on a tour yesterday."

            Vedrann definitely had been with Serea for a long time the day before but he was still as in the dark as everyone else about their new commanding officer. He had read about her career in _Starfleet_ and some of her background that was contained in the crew bio information but left much to be learned. He had attempted to stir up conversation with her ranging across a spectrum of subjects but she always avoided telling him details about herself. 

            After he realized it was pointless going in circles in an attempt to become better acquainted, he began to observe her more as he took her around the station. Vedrann always prided himself in figuring people out by simply watching how one presented his or herself. He loved it when he could pick up little habits a person would not even notice he or she had. Being more than a head taller than Serea's height of just over 1.7 meters, he found her having to lift her head much higher in order to address him. She also seemed to almost stand straighter to make herself appear taller in order to be on equal footing with him. It surprised him at first and caught him off guard but he reminded himself that he must give it some time before learning all her quirks.

            One particular thing he noticed Serea had was a slight spring in her step after every few paces she took. He could tell she obviously tried to avoid it in the professional demeanor she wanted to portray as an authority figure. She also tended to use her hands at certain points in conversation to describe things, a trait he never saw L'Nara do or any of the other Vulcans he had met for that matter. Especially after the introductions in the holosuite, Vedrann wondered if it was a struggle Serea had with making sure she was showing where her place as commander was immediately to her crew.

            Vedrann determined Serea was holding back more than simply letting herself become friendly with others. However, he believed there may be something deeper than he could imagine. He could see sadness behind her green eyes if he watched them long enough. He only caught it on a few occasions on their tour because she hid it the best out of everything else he was trying to find.

            "She's a… unique individual is all I can say," Vedrann said searching for the correct words so he could be articulate in his response. "It might take some time to become accustomed to the way she does things."

            Naetharr glanced at the office doors once more and then sighed as she walked over to her post. The _Starfleet_ engineers who worked with Naetharr noticed her arrival and quickly turned from a conversation to concentrating more on their work at hand before she would get on their cases for not working hard enough.

            The mechanical noise of the lift arriving again caught Vedrann's ears and he turned to see Michael and Rilar enter the room. The two appeared a bit ruffled as they shifted in their uniforms to make them look appropriate.

            "Rough night?" Vedrann asked them as they neared him.

"The bartender at the new Andorian restaurant wanted to celebrate his first night by adding some Romulan Ale to our drinks without telling us," Rilar explained, his eyes a little red rimmed and exhausted. "Have you ever tried it?"

            "Cannot say that I have," Vedrann confessed. "Is it bad?"

            "It gives you a hangover the size of the sector," Michael added wearily as he shuffled past his superior officers toward the Engineering section, nearly tripping on an exposed walkway panel.

            "I will make sure to avoid it," Vedrann chuckled deeply and then added, "But how do you know he put it in your drinks?"

            "Oh, you know what it is once you start getting a little drunk," Rilar said as he wandered to his Tactical station. "Nothing matches its strength."

            Vedrann inwardly laughed to himself as he watched Rilar carefully take his seat at his raised station in the lower portion of the Command Center. He had enjoyed talking with the Bajoran tactical officer over the past two weeks he had been stationed on _DS13. The two of them were close in age with a number of similarities from the occupations of the home worlds to their pleasant dispositions._

            Catching the noise of the lift coming up a third time, Vedrann turned to see a _Starfleet medical officer step onto the deck. She stopped and on the upper section looking lost at first but then fixed her eyes on Serea's office. As she began her way toward the office, she noticed Vedrann watching her. She appeared to recognize him and approached him with a calm smile._

            "Vice Commander Tennal," she addressed him as she came close to him. "I am Doctor Senecal."

            "It is nice to meet you Doctor," he said with a slight bow of his head. "But please, call me Vedrann."

            "Of course," she replied a little nervous. "I was wondering if Commander Serea was here yet. I wanted to report for duty before our briefing this morning."

            "Yes, she is here," he said. "But it appears she is busy speaking to someone."

            She peered over his shoulder at the Commander's office and noticed her involved in some work and a discussion with her desktop display.

            "Oh, then I will wait for her," she said quietly and nodding in response to Vedrann.

            "If you'll excuse me," Vedrann said as he slipped around Senecal to meet the L'Nara who had just arrived on duty.

            Senecal watched as Vedrann met with the Vulcan woman and then made their way down to her station.

            "Hello, Doctor," Rilar greeted as he came up from behind Senecal on the upper platform and then came around in front of her. "How was your evening? I hope you made it to where you were going."

            Senecal jumped slightly in surprise, she had not expected someone to come up behind her. The sound of his voice had her catch her breath in her throat, she swallowed quickly before responding to him.

            "Yes, I did," she said smiling and then noticing his slightly disheveled appearance. "My evening was nice, but it seems you had a good time last night." 

            "Oh… that," he said as he tried to smooth his dark brown hair out with his hand. "It involves a couple of drinks unknowingly spiked with Romulan Ale."

            She was not sure what to make of him while eyeing his uneven hair and red eyes. Even his Bajoran earring was on awkwardly. Senecal determined he did not seem the type to lie about such events despite it sounding like a strange story. 

            "Must have been one crazy night," she said in agreement, still not certain what to make of him.

            "Would you like to come to dinner tonight?" he asked her suddenly.

            "What?" she sputtered in surprise, her eyes wide for a moment. _Is he asking me on a date?_

            "Do you want to come to dinner tonight?" he asked again. "James and L'Nara are coming. We thought you might want to come along with us."

            "Oh," she said quietly but felt a twinge of disappointment hit her surprising herself that she even was thinking that way. "I don't know if I should. Katja and I …"

            "Katja can come along," Rilar cut in with his winning smile. "The others won't mind. Think of it as a 'Welcome Aboard' dinner for you two. The rest of us have been on the station for a couple weeks now during the reconstruction and we want to make you feel at home here."

            Senecal nervously smiled and gave a small sputter of a laugh as she tried to come over her uneasiness, "I don't know. It's only our second night here and we have some things to do…"

            "Please," he said, his dark eyes flashing with hope. "We really would appreciate you joining us."

            She held her smile as she watched him waiting for an answer from her. Rilar could see her fighting with herself on the inside over the decision. _Why is she holding back?_

            "We'll come," she said giving in finally to his invitation.

            "Great!" he exclaimed. "Eighteen-hundred hours in my quarters."

            Rilar stepped down the stairs to the lower circular platform and walked across it to meet Michael on the other side of the upper platform on the other side of the Command Center. He leaned down to meet Michael who was halfway stuck in a console repairing some circuitry.

            "Change of plans," Rilar told him.

            "What do you mean?" Michael grunted from inside as he attempted to fix a panel.

            "We're having dinner in my quarters tonight," Rilar explained. "And you need to tell L'Nara to come along, too. Tell her I'll even make her some Vulcan dish so she doesn't have to eat whatever the rest of us are going to have."

            "Why the changes?" Michael asked, still inside the console.

            Rilar glanced in Senecal's direction, seeing that she had walked to the center of the lower platform at the stellar chart meeting table in the middle of the room with her back to them.

            "Well, I invited Dr. Senecal and her daughter to join us," he explained.

            "Ow! What?" Michael said as he pulled himself out of the console holding his now injured hand. 

            "It's much nicer than the Replimat," Rilar explained, the public food court with replicators did not seem appropriate to him. "And I don't think we should go back to that Andorian Restaurant anytime soon so what other choice do we have?"

            "Whatever you say," Michael said with a confused look on his face. He was beginning to wonder what was going on with his friend and the doctor.

            The sounds of the metal doors to Serea's office resonated in the room and the crew all turned to see her walk down the flight of stairs to the bottom level.

            "I see all of you are here," Serea said as she descended the final steps. "We can conduct the briefing now."

            The department heads all began to walk toward the center of the room on the bottom level where Senecal was already standing. As soon as Vedrann, Naetharr, Rilar, and L'Nara were at the console, the meeting began.

            "Being the first briefing of our newly assembled crew, I know all of you were not expecting a very detailed meeting," Serea started. "However, the reason for starting this meeting later than originally scheduled is due to changes _Starfleet_ has just informed me of."

            She continued after a breath, "Our sector is in the middle of a newly formed raiding route. Breen insurgents are not being held in check and former Cardassian military officials are on the loose as well. _Starfleet_ does not believe this will become a larger problem for us but for precautionary measures and needed military strengthening in this part of the quadrant, _Deep Space 13 will be undergoing another series of refits."_

            Naetharr shifted her stance as she inwardly grumbled to herself. _There are always more upgrades to continue doing on this station; it's an old piece of junk_. Though, she did wonder what new gadgets and "toys" _Starfleet would be sending her way._

            "Along with the upgrades," Serea pressed on. "We will also be receiving a new crew compliment which brings me to our next topic. A slight rearrangement of the departments will be needed for the next change, too. The second officer has been assigned; his name is Lieutenant Commander Christopher Raleigh. He will be not much different from a first officer on any _Starfleet _vessel but will be at a lower ranking and standing under Vice Commander Vedrann Tennal. Considering the new harassment of ships in the sector and the possibility of a greater presence of unaligned cargo and freight ships stopping here as a secure median between their routes, I have decided to divide the Tactical/Security department into two separate branches. Lt. Commander Raleigh will be doubling-up as Security Chief of the station instead of placing the large responsibility of handling both station security and tactical on Lt. Commander Rilar Gital."

            Rilar nodded in agreement to Serea's decision. He did not mind the extra work particularly but he also did not mind the fact that he would be having less to worry about during the day. He could tell that the Commander's position on the change was an intelligent one, not one based on believing he was not capable of it, considering how much the station was going to be changing in the next few weeks.

            "We have an Assistant Tactical officer arriving in the next few days," Serea went on to explain the next portion. "Lieutenant Shannal Haldia will be heading the new Patrol Task Force based from here on the station; however, she will still be under the command and discretion of Lt. Commander Rilar. The Patrol Task Force will be a squadron of highly rated pilots who have recently undergone training in fast paced battle, or simply coined by the old phrase, 'dog fighting'. They will be using smaller vessels similar in design to pods but heavily armored, more easily maneuverable in flight, and equipped with the most top of the line equipment, including warp capabilities, available in the _Federation_. They will be the first line of defense in this sector and system."

            Serea could see her crew exchange looks of surprise but also with heightened interest. She knew as well as they did that something on this great a scale had been implemented before in _Starfleet._

            "In the meantime," Serea said as she got to her orders. "Lt. Naetharr, have your engineers prepare for the arrival of the new retrofits by finishing the last of the work previously needed within the next forty-eight hours."

            Naetharr groaned on the inside. Extra shifts definitely were going to need to be pulled by everyone in her department.

            "Yes, sir," she acknowledged the orders.

            "Commander Rilar, make all the necessary preparations for the new Security department," she commanded of her Tactical officer. "When Commander Raleigh arrives he can handle the duty shifts and other organizational plans."

            "Yes, ma'am," he nodded.

            "Dr. Senecal and Lt. L'Nara," Serea addressed them. "Daily duties and studies on Jetal and its people that you have underway will be your main priorities for the time being. New crewmembers for your departments will be assigned at a later date. Otherwise, that is all for today. Dismissed."

            The department heads started to disperse to their regular stations. Senecal followed Serea up the steps to her office.

            "Commander," Senecal called after her commanding officer.

            "Yes, Doctor?" Serea answered as she turned to face her.

            "Dr. Senecal reporting for duty, sir," she said to officially designate she was on board the station ready for her duties.

            "Welcome aboard," Serea said with a polite bow of her head. 

            "Commander, I was wondering if when _Starfleet_ would be sending the medical information for the new crew arriving this week?" Senecal asked. She needed to get her staff readied for the new influx on the station and delegate appropriate shifts.

            "We should be receiving the new crewmembers' medical logs by the end of tomorrow," Serea replied. "_Starfleet also informed me more medical staff will be sent within the next few months to accommodate the new stance we will be having in this sector and having a well trained medical facility available is a great necessity."_

            "Thank you, sir," Senecal replied, feeling much more relieved upon hearing more medical personnel were eventually going to be deployed. "I appreciate the update on the situation."

            "Of course," Serea said. "Now, I must return to the paperwork I must finish for our new crew."

            "Yes, sir, have a good day," Senecal replied stepping back to head to the lift.


	10. Stories

**Chapter Nine: Stories**

            "Are you enjoying your dinner?" Rilar asked from the head of the table.

            "Yes," Katja answered with a huge grin. "It's delicious."

            Rilar watched as the little five year old sitting to his right carefully cut the hasperat on her plate into smaller pieces for her tiny mouth. He was pleasantly amused by how carefully Katja tried to mimic her mother by doing little things like sitting straight in her chair and placing her napkin almost perfectly the same way: folded into a triangle shape, one point hanging off each side and one between the knees.

            The evening started off great in Rilar's opinion and the five of them appeared to be having a great time. Even L'Nara seemed to appreciate the company. Michael had kept the conversation light and comedic as usual and Rilar played the happy host to everyone. Senecal seemed to relax he noticed for the first time since he met her. Rilar was glad to see her and Katja there at his dinner considering how hesitant Senecal had been earlier.

            "It's a special recipe of hasperat passed on through my family," he told her. "I made sure to input it into the replicator so I could always have it here."

            "My mom has old recipes, too," Katja replied after taking a bite and swallowing. "My favorite is the one for Cream Cheese Brownies."

            "That sounds rich," Michael said from across the table. He had a sweet tooth and the mere mentioning of some sort of chocolate always stole his attention.

            "I'll make some for everyone sometime," Senecal laughed.

            "My dad really likes them, too," Katja quipped in. "We will save some for him right?"

            "Yes, we will," Senecal answered her daughter after taking a deep breath she hoped no one else noticed.

            "When is your husband arriving?" L'Nara asked Senecal, not catching the hint that something bothered the doctor. She stabbed a piece of her indescribable and unrecognizable Vulcan food as she waited for an answer.

            "He'll be here next month," Senecal answered, her uneasiness growing. She lowered her eyes, feeling the heat of her face and ears turning red.

            "James, how's that Chief Naetharr treating you?" Rilar asked Michael. He attempted to divert the attention away from Senecal because he noticed her suddenly grip the napkin on her lap very tightly.

            "Huh? Oh, she's a spit fire if I've ever seen one," he said, at first being caught off guard with the questions then shook his head as he cut a piece of hasperat. "Bad temper too."

            "I've noticed a few young Jetallans who seem to have a chip on their shoulders," Senecal commented. "Bithar Keddan, the nurse I work with, he seems pretty level headed to me though."

            "And Vedrann is a fairly calm and patient person, too," Rilar added in. "He seems to be the one who keeps the hot heads in check."

            "What are your opinions on the new officers arriving?" L'Nara asked to everyone at the table. 

            "I don't know," Michael spoke up. "But I definitely would like to get a good look at what the engineers from Utopia decided to put in those new pods along with the warp drive."

            "Always the engineer," Senecal teased, losing some of the self-conscious feelings that had crept up in the early portion of the conversation.

            Michael grinned as he leaned back with his arms behind his head in his chair; he wanted to find a way and opportunity to get back at Rilar for giving him a hard time about Naetharr. "What about that new tactical officer? You know anything about her yet?"

            "A little," Rilar said nodding his head. "A few hours after the briefing, Commander Serea called me into her office and went over the changes that are going to be happening on the station. She filled me in a little bit on the new lieutenant."

            "So? Tell us!" Michael said comically.

            "To start off with, she's Betazoid," Rilar began, catching some perked interest from his dinner companions. "She also had a fairly thick record of some incidents in the Academy including some problems with authority." 

            Rilar could feel the sharp intake of breath in the room as his friends realized he might have a lot to handle soon. Only L'Nara seemed unfazed with the comment, she watched him as she waited for him to continue.

            Rilar went on, "However, she has been highly decorated in the field once out of the Academy. She's a highly rated and skilled pilot as well as an expert in hand-to-hand combat."

            "So no bar fights because she'll know what we're thinking while at the same time kicking all of our as-… er butts," Michael said, catching himself from using colorful language after remembering Katja was at the table.

            "Why would you be fighting in the first place?" Senecal scolded him, not completely serious.

            "What fun is a bar unless you get a couple of fights every now and then?" Michael grinned again.

            "Depends on how our new Security Chief will conduct things," Rilar reminded him. "Commander Serea spoke of him to some extent and very highly of him I might add. She seemed awfully familiar with his record in _Starfleet_."

            "It would seem logical that she would do so since she knows him personally," L'Nara said out of nowhere, having been quiet for most of the conversation.

            "How do you know that?" Michael said, turning in his seat to face the dark haired Vulcan next to him.

            "I was reading his service record when I recognized a former ship he had served on was the same as one Commander Serea had concurrently served on," L'Nara answered simply.

            The room remained silent after she spoke, all eyes on her except for Katja's, who had lost interest in the conversation long before this point and was spending her time tracing the patterns in the placemats with her tiny fingers.

            "Are you going to elaborate?" Michael urged her.

            L'Nara placed her fork down after finishing the bite she had just taken, biding her time before answering. She folded her hands in her lap as she prepared to continue.

            "Lt. Commander Raleigh was a security officer on the _USS Callahan_, the same vessel Commander Serea was first officer on," L'Nara began. "They served together for approximately five years until an incident on Teprem III where their commanding officer, security chief, and counselor were killed on a diplomatic away mission. Lt. Commander Raleigh was the only one to survive from the away team."

            "I remember reading about that in the war updates," Senecal said with shocked remembrance. "Their ship was lucky another _Federation_ starship and a Klingon warbird were nearby to assist them in the surprise attacks. It could have turned into a massacre."

            L'Nara nodded in agreement with her and then finished the story, "Lt. Commander Raleigh was hurt fairly extensively and had to be taken to a _Starfleet_ medical facility immediately. He did not return to duty during the war due to his injuries while Commander Serea continued on as the new commanding officer of the _USS Callahan_ until the ship was destroyed in the final battle with the Dominion."

            "Next time I'll just come to you for all the gossip," Michael joked.

            "Vulcans do not gossip," L'Nara reminded Michael, not realizing he relished giving her a hard time. "It is factual information kept by _Starfleet_."

            Rilar and Senecal chuckled at their companions' banter which won them another smile from Michael who felt some reward for his jokes from their response since he received none from L'Nara's stoic personality. Rilar stood as he realized everyone was done with dinner and began to take the plates back to the replicator.

            "Oh, let me help you with that," Senecal said as she stood with him and collected her own plate.

            "Don't worry, I can get it," Rilar said with a warm smile. "But I appreciate your offer."

            She nodded as she hesitantly sat back down in her seat, letting him clean the table. Senecal turned to Katja and noticed her daughter's eyelids drooping from sleepiness. Katja rubbed her eyes attempting to stay awake. 

            "Well, I hate to eat and run," Michael began. "But I have another shift I have to get started on to meet the schedule for the retrofits that are coming."

            "You're not going to stay for dessert?" Rilar asked in fake astonishment.

            "Sorry, but the devil of a chief engineer is probably waiting for me," he grumbled.

            "I must also return to my experiments," L'Nara said standing and gave a respectful nod to Rilar. "Thank you for dinner."

            "I'll see you in the morning," Michael said motioning to Rilar. "We've got to plan another time for our ping pong tournament."

            L'Nara ignored the reference to their interrupted match and walked out the door with Michael in tow. 

            "They aren't a couple, are they?" Senecal inquired.

            "Why do you say that?" Rilar asked with a laugh.

            "No reason," Senecal grinned at him.

            He laughed at her humorous comments and placed the last of the plates into the replicator. Senecal glanced over and noticed Katja's head draped over her arm as she rested upon the table.

            "She was worn out tonight," Senecal sighed as she eyed her daughter. "But she sure enjoyed herself."

            "It was a great dinner party," Rilar agreed. "I'm glad you two ended up coming. It wouldn't have been the same night without you two."

            Senecal shyly laughed and lowered her head to avoid his dark brown eyes watching her. She always felt funny when feeling his eyes focused on her but felt the warmth and friendliness they emanated toward her when they talked.

            "I should be getting her home," Senecal said, referring to Katja who lay asleep still at the table.

            "I'll help," Rilar said and before Senecal could stop him, he had swept Katja's sleeping form into his arms and she groggily moved her arms around his neck to hold on as she laid her head on his shoulder. "I'll walk you home."

            She appreciated the kind gesture and relented in attempting to stop him. They walked out the door of his quarters and made their way down the corridor. Her quarters were on the same deck but much further down the curved hallway in another section. He let her show the way as they slowly walked down the hallways as to not disturb Katja's rest.

            "Is everything ok with you and Katja?" he quietly said suddenly as they were walking.

            Senecal looked at him in a mixture of surprise, shock, and a little panic. _Had he noticed that easily?_

            "Wh... what do you mean?" she tried to ask innocently.

            "You seemed a little bothered during dinner," he commented.

            "Oh," she said, feeling herself blushing again. "It's nothing really… I just… we… we've been having some problems." 

            "I see," Rilar replied, it was not his place to push the issue with her since they barely had just met the day before but he wanted to somehow console her or let her be able to get out whatever she was holding up inside.

            "He's away a lot," she spit out quickly as if trying to explain herself. "He's an exo-archaeologist and exo-biologist so he's always somewhere looking or testing things."

            Rilar remained quiet after she spoke, he knew that was not the complete story or the main reason she was upset over whatever problems she and her husband were having.

            "Katja doesn't even get to see him that much," she sighed with disdain, channeling her usual upset feelings into annoyance and a little anger. "And now what he's doing is going to make it even worse for her. She doesn't even know her dad well enough yet and he's going to go change on her."

            "Do you know for sure it will be a problem when he gets here?" Rilar asked her, he did not know what it was her husband was going to do but he did not ask.

            "I just know it will be," she shook her head. "He hasn't thought about the consequences for his family in a long time."

            They approached the door to her quarters and she led him inside to where Katja's room was. Rilar carefully placed her down on the sheets and instinctively, Katja reached out for her teddy bear next to her on the pillow.

            After pulling the covers over her and leaving the door slightly open, the two of them walked back to the front room. Senecal walked with him to the door to see him out.

            "Thank you for carrying her here," she said.

            "It was no problem," Rilar said sincerely. He paused for a moment and then took a deep breath. He placed a hand on the side of her shoulder. "If you ever need anything, I'd be happy to help."

            She could sense the comfort in his eyes with his good intentions. He had a good heart and she hoped it would be enough to help her through the hard time she was having.

            "Thank you," she said with a slightly sad smile.

            They stood for a moment caught between each others' gazes until he broke it.

            "I better get going," he said. "I've got a lot of work waiting for me tomorrow so I should get some sleep."

            "Of course," she said. "Good night."

            "Good night," he said as he stepped out the door.


	11. Siblings

**Chapter Ten: Siblings**

            "What is that?" Vedrann asked, giving an odd look to Naetharr as they sat together in the middle of the Replimat.

            "It's an earth dish," she commented. "Something called pad thai. I tried it a few times while I was at the Academy."

            "Does it taste good?" Vedrann asked inquisitively, eyeing the long noodles and pieces of poultry in her bowl.

            "Not as spicy as some of our own dishes, but moderate and flavorful," she critiqued. "I'd prefer _lattwarv'a_ any day."

            "Of course you would," Vedrann chuckled. He knew how much she loved the exquisite taste of the Jetallan meat dish.

            Naetharr twirled the noodles around the silverware she had and took a plentiful bite. She glanced at Vedrann who had not eaten much of his food and was poking at it.

            "Do you not like yours?" she raised her eyes to his from his food.

            "I'm not very hungry," he shrugged.

            "Why did you invite me to dinner then if you were not hungry?" she questioned.

            "I want to have dinner with my favorite sister. Is that wrong?" he asked with a lopsided grin.

            She leaned back in her chair giving him a look he knew all too well growing up. He returned the glare which she in turn simply scrunched up her nose at him and took another bite of her pad thai. Despite it being a surrogate relationship, Naetharr understood and enjoyed the brotherly disposition he had over her seeing as he had taken care of her since he had found her on her own that night so long ago.

            "I want to give you something before I go back to working on the refits," she said stabbing one more giant bite of noodles, chicken, and spices. 

            "What is it?" he asked curiously.

            "Something I brought back from Earth for you," she explained after swallowing her last bite. "I forgot about it until earlier today."

            Naetharr stood and took her plate to the replicators as did Vedrann following behind her. She made her way from the Replimat to the closest lift so they could get to her quarters quickly so she could return to work.

            "It is more than a present?" he asked with a raised eyebrow as they headed downward.

            "Yes," she nodded in reply. "I think you will be fairly happy."

            "I am getting more interested by the second," he said with a smile.         

            The lift came to a stop and the corridor opened in front of them. Naetharr stepped off as they walked toward her nearby room. The doors parted and they entered, making their way to a desk across the room. She shuffled a few things in a drawer and came out with a box and handed it to Vedrann.

            "Open it," she prompted him.

            He took the top cover off and placed it on the desk before picking up the items inside the box. Inside were a pair of gloves and he began to pull off the gloves he wore on his hands already before pulling the new pair onto his hands. The material felt smooth as he pulled them over his fingers and they also had an interesting scent he had never smelled before.

            "What kind of material is this?" he asked with awe behind his voice.

            "They call it leather," she explained. "It has better durability than what you have."

            "Thank you," he said with much sincerity in his voice and eyes as he flexed his fingers in the gloves.  "They are perfect."

            He eyed her hands a moment as she put the box away.

            "I see you have gone without yours again," he observed with a slightly annoyed tone.

            "It is in remission for the time being," she explained, her eyes narrowing. "Another 'phase', if you will."

            Vedrann stared at Naetharr for a few seconds, trying to see why she suddenly became defensive. She was hiding something else but he could not tell what it might be. He would have to let her be for now.

            "I should be going," she said as she headed for the door. "You may stay if you wish."

            She walked out the door without another leaving remark, the door sliding shut behind her as Vedrann watched on in more annoyed curiosity.

*          *          *

            Naetharr entered the Command Center and went straight to her workstation. She was slightly steaming from her last encounter with Vedrann and her coworkers sensed her bad mood. The engineers scurried out of the way as she collected from a console a couple padds that were filled with reports that had been left for her.

            She hardly noticed the other engineers around her as she read the reports and as they continued to work on the last minute retrofits they needed to have done quickly. To her surprise, things were actually going ahead of schedule and it made her feel better that they might be done with time to spare for anything else that might need to be repaired. 

            Collecting a tool kit, Naetharr walked toward an open repair conduit that led to several junctions of conduits that ran throughout the station for crews to access systems and to repair them. According to one of the reports, a converter coil was acting up and giving several of her engineers headaches so she set off to see what she could do. She crawled in head first toward the section where the coil was located. She found the source and hefted herself into a hunched sitting position in the small conduit. 

            After several minutes of running a diagnostic and scanning the coil with an engineering ticorder, Naetharr had determined the problem and began to replace the panel she had removed in order to access the coil. She began to place her tools back into the tool box when she felt a sudden shooting pain in her right arm.

            She gasped at the crippling pain that felt like lightening shooting through her bones and held her arm to her chest as she struggled with her pain-free hand to find the pouch she had attached to the belt of her uniform. Her hand and wrist curled into a contorted figure as if the muscles were cramping throughout her limb. She finally managed in pulling the clasp of the pouch off and pulled out a smaller version of a hypo-spray. She pressed it to her convulsing arm and the pain and cramping began to fade away almost immediately.

            Naetharr stretched her fingers and moved them about to remove the strange feeling she still had lingering. She sighed and leaned backward against the wall of the conduit as she felt her breath coming in short gasps as she attempted to relax.

            _It's getting worse, she thought to herself before lifting herself and heading back toward the Command Center._

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Author's Note:

            I'd like to thank my reviewers and readers for reading my story. I hope you all are enjoying it and I appreciate the comments and critiques. Sorry I kept this chapter short but I'm planning on making up for that soon. Spring semester is starting up in the next couple days so we'll see how my time goes for writing. 

~TQ


	12. Arrivals

**Chapter Eleven: Arrivals**

            Rilar sat by himself at his tactical post running long range scans beyond the Jetallan system to see if anything unusual was happening. He sighed and leaned back in his chair after another thorough scan came back to him revealing nothing of interest. He was feeling very frustrated at this point. Not a single security issue had popped up for him to handle. It seemed life on the station was going to be quiet for a while until all the upgrades were made for the station to handle the heavy trading route ships. 

            He glanced around the Command Center, not looking at anything in particular. Rilar noticed the engineers seemed much more relaxed since they had finished the last of the refits the night before, six hours ahead of schedule. It was good timing for them so they could relax for a while before the _USS Victoria docked sometime that day. Rilar knew Michael had gone to his quarters and passed out in order to catch up on the sleep he had missed over the past couple nights. Naetharr, however, was still trying to be hard at work despite there not being any work available. Rilar noticed her idling around running diagnostics and he assumed she must be the type who needed something to do all the time._

            He had attempted once to have a chat with her but she appeared uninterested and eyed him suspiciously as if he had some trick or plan hidden behind a façade of friendliness. Rilar did not blame her for being somewhat paranoid of his intentions since she barely knew him. He hoped she would lighten up with him and Michael eventually.

            L'Nara's station was empty because she was away on a trip down to Jetal collecting more samples and starting new studies for her to research. Vedrann was off for the first shift and would be coming on duty in a few hours. That left Rilar alone in the lower portion of the Command Center deck to do as he pleased. Rilar's only other choice for a talking buddy who was posted in or near the Command Center was Commander Serea and she was not exactly the talking type. He eyed her office where she was obviously reading and scanning through several padds full of reports and other paperwork that needed to be done for the arrival of the new officers and crew.

            One of the side doors opened to the Command Center from the hallway that circulated around the outer edges of the structure releasing Senecal into the large room. Rilar smiled in her direction when he noticed her appear and glance around the empty center. She looked his way and her thin lips smiled back to him as she made her way to his station.

            "Hello, Rilar," she said approaching his station. "How is your day going?"

            "Slow," he sighed heavily. "Not so much of a peep out there."

            "Well, that's good for us, isn't it?" she replied with a light-hearted laugh as she took a seat at a console on the upper level slightly higher and next to his station. "We're done with wars and battles for a while I hope."

            "True," he conceded. "But without anything to be worried about, what use is a tactical officer?"

            "It's always good to have some sense of security," she shrugged, crossing her arms over the console and resting her head on them so she could look watch him. "Plus, you get to stay here."

            He chuckled at the comment after giving her a curious look. He was glad to see she was becoming more comfortable with being in a new environment as well as gain confidence in her decision to come to the far away post. He noticed the more she smiled, the brighter her eyes seemed to twinkle. He made a note to himself to make sure he made her smiled more often.

            "How is the decorating coming along?" he asked, referring to her quarters. She had told him the day before that she had taken all the belongings she had brought with her and was having a tough time trying to decide how to decorate the rooms.

            "Well, Katja's room was easy. She wanted it exactly the way she had it set up on the _Coolidge," Senecal said referring to her last posting on a starship. "Though, I think the living room will be the hardest and knowing how Lorias is…"_

            Rilar waited for a moment as she trailed off, "Lorias…?"

            "Oh, my husband," she said quickly and then seemed thoughtful for a moment. "He's normally very picky about how we organize our living quarters."

            He eyed her funny for a moment, "But you act as if he might not?"

            Senecal leaned back in her chair and removed her crossed arms from the console she had been leaning on. She lowered her eyes from his searching gaze and appeared to study her fingers and hands for a few seconds.

            "I'm not sure," she said finally. "You see… he might be going through a 'joining'. I have yet to receive word that it is definitive."

            Rilar's eyes lit up with understanding as he realized that she was referring to the Trill process of joining a humanoid host with a symbiont. He had met a number of joined Trills while he was in _Starfleet_ but never had known one before and after he or she was joined. He understood that great differences in personalities may occur to the host due to the memories of the symbiont.

            "I guess you will just have to wait and see then," Rilar said with a shrug. "He might not change that much at all."

            "I'm worried about that too," she said softly, almost too quiet for him to catch. "Never mind, enough of my problems." She waved her hand as if to shoo away the tense air she had created with her pondering and worries and then turned to him again. "So tell me some more about yourself, we haven't really talked much about you."

            "You don't want to hear about my boring life," he laughed out loud. 

            "Of course I do!" she said, a smile spreading across her face. "You've listened to me a lot the past few days, it's now my time to be the listener."

            "Are you becoming a counselor now?" he said with a raised eyebrow.

            She shook her head with a soft laugh, "No, I just want to know about you some more. Like your family and friends."

            "Well, there's not much to tell about family," Rilar began. "I lost most of my family during the Occupation and the few still around who survived went and joined the Maquis. And as you know, they were practically wiped out by the Dominion."

            "I'm sorry," she said, she lowered her voice to a somber tone as she felt like she had come to a bad subject.

            "Don't be," he said as he walked up to the upper level where she sat at the console. He leaned against the console next to her chair. "They were awfully distant to begin with and I had made my peace with them and put it behind me when I escaped to the _Federation just before the end of the Occupation."_

            She considered him a moment, watching his warm brown eyes for a give-away of some sort. He had gone through a lot in his life but it had made him a better person instead of letting it eat him up on the inside. 

            "How did you manage to escape from Bajor?" she asked him.

            "That's a long story," he said sighing. "But I promise to tell you sometime. Perhaps over dinner again?"

            "Why not?" she grinned in return, seeing as they could have a friendly dinner getting to know each other. She truly wanted to make new friends at her new assignment and it would not work if she hid away in her quarters during all her free time.

            A beep resonated from Rilar's console and he walked back over to his station. He checked the display to see what sounded the alert.

            "It's the _Victoria," he said checking his scans. "Rilar to Commander Serea. Sir, the _USS Victoria_ has just entered the system."_

            "Hail them and give them permission to approach and dock," Serea ordered over the comm link.

            "Yes, sir," Rilar answered. "Rilar out."

*          *          *

            Rilar and Senecal glanced away from their conversation when they heard the lift arrive. They found two _Starfleet_ officers, both in yellow, grey, and black uniforms, step off the lift onto the upper level and look in the direction of where they stood. The first, a Terran male, stepped off with a young woman following behind him. 

            The man of his late thirties was tall, possibly matching Vedrann's height, with short, light brown hair and a clean shaven face. He walked with a slight limp when he came onto the platform, a lasting injury from the ill-fated away mission. His eyes were a dark blue of almost a midnight sky shade with a sense of loss but also had an essence of strength from within.

            The young woman's appearance contrasted her companion's darkness with fire and heat. Her slick red hair and green eyes emanated defiance and haughtiness. She held herself in a manner that expressed her roughness and displayed a learned ability of showing dominance simply with her posture. She was at more than a head shorter than Rilar but had a presence to intimidate the tallest and strongest of men.

            _Must be our new officers, Rilar thought to himself._

            "You are correct, Lt. Commander Rilar," the woman said, answering his thought.

            "Excuse me?" he sputtered for a moment, completely taken by surprise.

            "You were wondering if we were the new officers," she explained, her voice smooth without a hint of weakness or emotion. "We are your new second officer and assistant tactical officer."

            Rilar remained silent for a few seconds while still surprised by her remarks. He had not expected her to read his mind so easily. It somewhat unnerved him and he realized he better be careful of what he was thinking.

            "I am Lt. Commander Christopher Raleigh," the man introduced himself to Rilar and Senecal, shaking both their hands and then motioning to the woman. "And this is Lieutenant Shannal Haldia."

            The woman shook Rilar's hand with a firm grip and then turned to Senecal, "Dr. Anja Senecal I presume." 

            "Nice to meet you, Lieutenant," Senecal smiled softly as she shook hands with the new officer.

            "Commander, I have everything you need ready for you in the Security Office on the Promenade," Rilar said. "If any other changes in shifts and personnel are needed, let me know and I'll get them updated."

            "Thank you," Raleigh answered. "I appreciate it that the crew prepared well for our arrival and the new changes being implemented."

            "You can thank Commander Serea for that," Senecal added in. "She had a set schedule in order to be ready on time and we even finished early."

            "Speaking of which," Haldia said as she eyed the doors to the office, watching them open a second after she spoke, almost on cue, and Serea walking over to meet them.

            "Commander Raleigh, Lieutenant Haldia," she addressed them as she approached, a polite head nod to each in greeting. "Welcome to _Deep Space 13_." 

            "Thank you, sir," Haldia replied. 

            "It has been a while, Jeanne," Raleigh said to Serea. 

            "Nearly a year," she confirmed, not reacting at all. "I see you are in better health."

            "Yes," he said, watching her carefully.

            Rilar noticed a quick, amused smile flash across Haldia's face as if she knew something the rest of them did not, which was most likely the case. He also noticed Senecal shift uncomfortably around the tense conversation going on. He cleared his throat as he turned.

            "I should be getting back to work," Rilar said as he turned and lightly took Haldia's arm. "I should go over all the Tactical information with Lt. Haldia."

            Haldia caught the hint and let herself be led away from the group, another amused smile on her face. This one she let linger.

            "I should be getting back to the Infirmary," Senecal coughed out as she quickly walked to the lift. "There might be patients there needing to be tended to."

            Raleigh and Serea remained standing on the upper level together, finding themselves suddenly left alone. The two held each other's gaze.

            "Would you like me to come back another time?" Raleigh asked.

            "Whenever you wish," she replied, not letting down her stare.

            Raleigh took a deep breath and released it as he blinked away their gazes.

            "I'll be by later," he said and turned on his heel as he went to meet Rilar and Haldia to discuss security and tactical information.

            Serea watched him go and then turned back to go to her office. Haldia glanced up at Serea as she left, keeping a steady eye on her commander. Serea stopped halfway up the steps and turned her head to the side slightly catching Haldia's gaze.

            _I'd suggest not looking into people's minds without consideration for their privacy._

            Haldia gave a slight nod and lowered her eyes to pay attention to what Rilar had been telling her. Serea turned back to her office and entered without another thought.


	13. No Boundaries

**Chapter Twelve: No Boundaries**

            Shannal Haldia eyed the fighter pods carefully as several of them were being loaded into the retrofitted landing bays of the station. She wanted to make sure her squadron vessels were handled properly. _Starfleet_ had been in such a rush to mobilize the new team to _DS13_, many things were nearly left behind or actually forgotten including four pilots who had little time to return from the training camp in the Hromi Cluster and barely make it in time for the _USS Victoria_'s departure_. _Two of the five specially equipped Type-6 fighter pods also left on a flight deck at Utopia Planetia Fleet Yards. Hopefully in the following week they would be delivered.

            She watched as crews from both _DS13_ and the _Victoria_ placed the last of the pods on the deck and she began to make her way through the engineers swarming in between the vessels as they took inventory and scans. Haldia glanced from each pod to another as she walked and smiled when she noticed the one she was looking for. She traced her hand along the bulkhead of the craft she had personalized for herself and felt a soothing sensation settle into her as she touched the smooth, cool metal surface with her fingertips. The tiny ship was more than just a fighting pod to her, it was an extension of her body and if she wanted, she could fly like a bird through space all day long. 

            Sensing a presence approaching her, Haldia turned to see the face of the mind she had felt and heard. 

            "Can I help you with something, Lieutenant?" the young male engineer asked her.

            He looked at her curiously next to the pod and she could hear his thoughts go through the process of taking her in and wondering what she was doing there since he obviously did not recognize her as part of the engineering staff. She felt a sudden flash of emotion from him that was a possible subconscious lust with a much more obvious conscious revelation of attraction after a quick glance he took at her physical appearance. She felt an amused smile spread across her face since it had not been the first time it had happened since she had arrived. 

            "Don't mind me, Lieutenant Michael," she spoke, letting him know she knew who he was. "I am just making sure my fighter made it here in one piece."          

            Confusion. Revelation. Discomfort. They all flickered through him in one instant. _Amazing how the mind works so quickly_, she thought to herself, seeing him sort through his thoughts. He grasped the realization that she knew everything that he was thinking or had thought within the past couple minutes. After kicking himself mentally, he pulled himself together to act professionally.

            "You must be our new squad leader, Lieutenant Haldia," he assumed after piecing together the fact she was with the pods but also noticing the stenciled name of ownership under the hatch.

            "The one and only," she said with smile.

            "How do you like _DS13_ thus far?" he asked in friendly curiosity.

            He noticed as her eyes wandered about the cavernous bay and then come to rest on him again.

            "Not bad," she shrugged. "I do prefer the openness of a station to the stricter confines of a starship. Though, it will take some getting used to."

            "Good to hear," he beamed. As an engineer, he felt a bit of pride in the station he had helped rebuild. The thought reminded him of one of the reasons he was there. "You know, these pods are an amazing creation. After studying the inner workings and blueprints, I'm almost regretful that I did not become a more accomplished pilot."

            Her grin spread, she felt as much of a great satisfaction and pleasure for her small fleet as he did for his machines and circuitry. 

            "There's always time to better ones skills," she sagely added. "And you have the best teacher in the _Federation_ among your crewmates."

            He smiled in return, his eyes agreeing with her assertion taking lessons to enhance ones abilities. He was about to speak when he was caught by surprise.

             "Michael!" came a staunch shout from behind the engineer. Both he and Haldia looked to see Naetharr approach them, padd in hand. 

            The Jetallan turned to her assistant engineer and handed him the padd, "I want you to run diagnostics on all the pods with Kleran, Thompson, Cortobia, and Williams. After that, have the ground crew ready the pods for flight. Commander Serea wants a test run of the fighters as soon as possible."

            "No problem," Michael said with a quick appearance and disappearance of annoyance through his mind that touched Haldia's senses as she watched the two interact.

            The chief engineer then turned her attention to Michael's companion. She eyed the Betazoid woman cautiously and Haldia returned the stare from Naetharr with a small smile.

            "Lt. Haldia," Naetharr said as she bowed her head in a slight greeting, not letting her eyes move from hers. "When Lt. Michael is finished doing his work, he'll inform you when your fighters are ready to begin their test flight."

            "I look forward to the chance," Haldia responded as Naetharr turned to go about her other duties without another word.

            "Did I miss something?" Michael asked slightly bewildered.

            "Nothing of importance," she said taking her eyes away from the back of Naetharr's head. "I should let you get back to your duties, Lieutenant."

            "It is no problem at all if you keep me," he responded. "I do not mind the company. Oh, and feel free to call me James."

             "James, then," she accepted. "It was good chatting with you."

            "As with you," he said as she started to walk away toward one of the doorways.

            As she went on her way to prepare her gear, Haldia decided to make a point of having a small meeting with her pilots before the flight test and would need to contact them all fairly quickly before Michael's teams were finished with their diagnostics. Though, a small bothersome thought was still nipping at the back of her mind about her encounter with Naetharr. She did not recall ever reading or hearing that Jetallans were telepathic but she could have sworn that Naetharr had felt her attempt to link to her mind and erected a firewall of sorts to block the intrusion. It had caught Haldia by surprise but she did not let her companions notice. She had long learned how to not fully express her complete emotions on her facial features that she felt on the inside. At another time she decided she would have to look further into this interesting event.

*          *          *

            Raleigh and Rilar approached the office at the top of the stairs in the Command Center. She had ordered preparations for a test flight to begin for the newly arrived pod squadron and wanted to be informed when the squadron would be ready, which they were on their way to inform her. 

            Raleigh eyed his companion a moment out of the corner of his eye as they made their way to the doors of Serea's office. The Bajoran officer had surprised Raleigh with the grand diligence he had readied the security department upon his arrival. His easygoing personality yet strong demeanor connected well with Raleigh's expectations and standards. In his opinion, Rilar would make a great command officer one day if he so desired. _Starfleet_ needed good officers like him and were hard-pressed for getting them quickly into the captain's chair despite inexperience. Though, Raleigh was content with the fact _DS13_ could keep him in her grasp for the time being.

            After pressing the chime to announce their presence, the doors slid open to let the two men step through the glass and metal paned entrance. Serea, her back to them as she stared out the large window behind her desk, stood still with her hands clasped behind her back as she took in the empty solitude of space. She turned to her arrivals, her eyes darting between them quickly as she took them in.

            "Gentlemen," she addressed them. 

            "The squadron is ready for their test flight, Commander," Raleigh informed Serea. "They are waiting for orders to begin."

            "Thank you for informing me," she acknowledged. "Would you two care to join me on the Promenade to watch the exercises?"

            The two men glanced at each other and then turned back to her.

            "I would like that very much, ma'am," Rilar replied.

            "As would I," Raleigh added.

            Serea nodded and came around her desk before motioning for them to step out with her. The three of them made their way through to the lift through the Command Center where a few crew members remained working on tasks at hand.

            Serea stood between her Security and Tactical officers, remaining silent as the lift went on its way a couple decks down to the Promenade. After a moment she spoke, "What is the status of your transfers?"

            "The new personnel charts have been drawn up and the details sent to the crew," Rilar chimed in.

            The lift stopped as it reached the upper deck of the Promenade. A walkway opened up in front of them with a bridge that connected the inner circular portion to the outer walkway that ran underneath the large elliptical windows. They stepped off the lift and headed for the section of the Promenade that gave a good viewpoint of the beginning takeoff from the pod bay.

            "The new shifts will begin tomorrow morning with Alpha shift," Raleigh continued. "Everything went smoothly and hopefully the crew will too as we will see tomorrow."

             "The crew has adapted well so far," she noted. "I have high expectations for this crew and _Starfleet_ will be pleased to have us so quickly ready and positioned in this sector considering the times we are in."

            Rilar and Raleigh nodded their heads in agreement to Serea's assertion. They both knew tough times were coming in the time ahead and the better prepared _Starfleet_ is in the Quadrant, the better. The three stopped at one of the large windows where several people, crew and civilians alike, already stood upon hearing about the squadron's flight run. 

            "Serea to Haldia," she said after tapping her comm badge. "The Command Center is ready for your takeoff. Stay in contact with them for recording of the flight instructions."

            "Yes, Commander," Haldia's voice came across clearly on the comm. "We're heading out!"

            Raleigh gave a slight chuckle at the woman's words and he noticed out of the corner of his eye that Rilar was grinning a little too. Both their eyes switched to looking outside the windows as they saw the first vessels exit into the vacuum of space. Haldia's pod set out first and led the way out of the station in a straight line. 

            As the last ship exited the bay, the formation began to change as the vessels caught up and formed a center cluster and two flanking groups. Due to the missing ships that yet to be delivered, both flanks had a missing portion where the other pilots would be flying. However, one would not have noticed the gaps because the pilots compensated for their missing crew mates and flew as perfectly as ever. The forty specks sped by in a turn against the star studded background and then crossed between _DS13_ and Jetal, the silver underlining of the ships glistening in front of the turquoise blue of the oceans.

            "Amazingly acrobatic little ships," Rilar commented as he noticed the flanks break off from the lead central group and vault around the docking ring.

            "Indeed," Serea agreed as she watched the center cluster split through the middle while pulling an extremely steep vertical climb that no runabout or shuttle could pull off at such high impulse speeds. "They are just what we need."

            "Yelar to Commander Serea," came another call over the comm.

            "Yes, Ensign, what is it?" Serea answered the young Jetallan crewman stationed at Tactical while she, Raleigh, and Rilar were away.

            "We are receiving a distress call from a Ferengi trading ship approximately four light years away," he explained quickly. "They are under attack but are not saying by what or whom. They are asking for assistance from any ships in the vicinity immediately."

            "Are there any other _Starfleet_ vessels in close proximity to the ship's position?" she queried.

            "No, ma'am," he answered. "The _Victoria_ is the closest ship in range. Her captain has already informed us they can leave within ten minutes of recalling crew on the station."

            Serea breathed in a deep breath as she contemplated the next decision she was going to make. Ten minutes could be a close difference between destruction and survival.She eyed her two companions who had listened to the call as well and stood ready for her to command anything of them. 

            "Stand by, Yelar," she said and then eyed Rilar for a moment. "Is the squadron equipped and ready for assisting and possibly engaging in battle?"__

            "Yes, Commander," he nodded.

            "Yelar," Serea said calling back to the ensign. "Inform the _Victoria_'s captain that we ask them to assist our patrol squadron in aiding the Ferengi ship. Contact Lieutenant Haldia and inform her of the attack. Her orders are to take the squadron ahead of the _Victoria_ as she prepares to leave docking. They are not to engage in battle unless fired upon. Commander Rilar, Commander Raleigh, and I are on our way."

            "Yes, ma'am," he said already filling out her orders.

            "Serea, out," she commanded as she nodded to both Rilar and Raleigh to follow her back to the Command Center.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

~Authors Note~

I apologize to my readers for the lateness between chapters. The school semester has been very busy as has life lately too. I hope to get another section out soon enough for everybody. 

Happy Valentine's Day!


	14. Battlegrounds

**Chapter Thirteen: Battlegrounds**

            Serea, Raleigh, and Rilar entered the Command Center brusquely and took up their posts. Several other crewmembers rushed in after a cautionary alert was sounded. Serea did not want to go to Red Alert right away since the station was not in any immediate danger but she wanted to have her crew prepared for any developments that could arise. She felt the patrol squadron was fully capable of handling a threat and if it were a stronger foe than realized, the _Victoria_ would not be far behind them. 

            "Status," Serea asked Ensign Yelar as she took her place at the command console in the center of the room to oversee everything.

            "The _Victoria_ is less than five minutes from departure and her ETA to the Ferengi ship will be three minutes at high warp," Yelar informed. "The squadron will arrive any second. The sensors are being jammed from scanning the enemy ships. There is no way to determine their affiliation or design."

            "Keep track of both the squadron and enemy ships' movements on our long range scanners," Serea ordered as she noticed Naetharr enter the center with a couple engineers. "Lieutenant Naetharr, prepare station-wide systems for the possibility of a defensive readiness for an attack. I do not want us caught unaware if the attack upon the Ferengi cargo ship is a diversion tactic."

            Naetharr nodded in acknowledged and set her team straight to work as she prepared for the worst possible scenario. The center was alive with a tense atmosphere as everyone awaited word from the sensors and squadron.

*                       *                       *                       *

            "Haldia to _DS13_," said Shannal Haldia over the channel she was attempting to connect.

            "Unable to establish link," the computer voice in her pod announced. "Ionic wave patterns are interfering with the signal."

"Great…" Haldia muttered to herself as she realized the attackers had set up a block on communications. _They most like set it up after they realized the Ferengi contacted the station_, she thought to herself.

            Haldia had attempted to scan the attacking ships but their shields blocked out any scans. The outer hulls appeared to be designed in Breen format and technique but they seemed much more heavily armed than simple rebel ships.   

"Delta wing, distraction maneuvers pattern epsilon on the two back flanking ships. Beta wing, attempt to form a blockade between the attack cruisers and the Ferengi ship," Haldia called out over the link to her squadron. "Center company, follow attack pattern omega but do not fire unless fired upon, let's just scare them a little."

            Similar to their practice flight, the two flanks broke off from the main grouping of pods and began to take action. The Delta team swerved hard to port and scattered about in front of the Breen ships releasing plasma in their wake. The Beta wing then slowed and took up position holding in precision points around the Ferengi ship. Haldia led her center company straight at the lead Breen ship as if on a collision course before veering off the course and nearly skimming their own shields across the surfaces of the Breen's. If they had been able to fire on the attacking ship, they would have let loose a volley of phaser and torpedo fire that would have overloaded the Breen's shields.

            "Jenkins to Haldia," rang a call through the comm.

            Haldia led her company into another maneuver around the lead ship as she prepared to answer the Beta wing leader.

            "Yes, Jenkins what is it?" she replied, focusing primarily on her objective.

            "According to our scans of the Ferengi ship, there are power fluxuations throughout the ship's power grid and their shields will be nonexistent in two minutes," he reported. 

            "How many are in the crew compliment," she questioned as she led the company in front of the path of the lead ship that was attempting to get to another position. 

            "Thirty by our count," Jenkins answered.

            She grumbled to herself. If they had the extra pods that had been left behind at Utopia Planetia within their team, beaming all the Ferengi on the pods would not be a problem.

            "As soon as their shields drop, the Type-6 pods can beam some of the crew aboard," she said. "The rest will have to wait until the _Victoria_ arrives."

            "Aye," he replied. "Jenkins, out,"

            Haldia called the plan into action and the rest of the Type-6 fighters flew to the Beta wing team positioned in front of the Ferengi ship. She had her own company push their maneuvers harder upon the lead ship. She noticed though, triumphantly, that the Breen ships had not resumed firing upon the Ferengi ship since they had arrived. The distractions by the squadron seemed to be working and the Breen seemed unlikely to create an incident with _Federation_ ships.

            "Jenkins to Haldia," came another call. "The Breen activated their transporters and three life forms were beamed off the Ferengi ship. We were unable to retrieve those three fast enough."

            "Damn," Haldia muttered to herself. "Get as many of those left as fast as you can."

            Moments later, Haldia's controls began to beep as she noticed a large ship drop out of warp on their position. The Breen ships suddenly banked hard to starboard away from the attack area at the appearance of the starship as they retreated.

            "_USS Victoria_ to _DS13 _Patrol Squadron. This is Captain Barsegayn."

            "Hello, sir," came Haldia's reply over the comm channel. "Impeccable timing."

*                       *                       *                       *

            "The flight pods are back in the docking ring and all are accounted for," Rilar said. "The _Victoria_ will arrive in twenty minutes with the Ferengi ship in tow."

            "Thank you, Commander," Serea said as she stood by his station. "Have the Ferengi crew members taken to the Infirmary if there are any injuries they might have. Is the DaiMon on board one of our pods?"

            "No, ma'am," Rilar replied. "He was part of the compliment beamed on board the _Victoria_."

            Serea nodded, "Have Lieutenant Haldia meet with you to debrief as soon as the squadron is finished with post-operation. When the _Victoria_ has docked, inform Captain Barsegayn I would like to see him and the DaiMon in my office as soon as possible."

            "Right away, Commander."

            Serea heard the doors swish shut behind her. Looking about, she found her empty office silent except for the hum of the distant power core that only Vulcan ears could pick up. She contemplated the room a moment as she stood in the same spot. After taking a deep breath and closing her eyes for a few seconds, she opened them again as she walked over to the replicator located in the wall.

            "A half liter of green tea, hot," she ordered and heard the beep as the computer complied.

            She retrieved the kettle and tray that materialized and placed it on her desk. Slipping past her chair, she shifted through a box she had placed there when she had arrived on the station. Serea, after finding what she was looking for, carefully placed an ancient Vulcan tea set on her desk. She then took the kettle and filled the teapot with the green tea, not spilling a drop. Once she was finished, she returned it to the replicator and tapped a button for it to disappear.

            Serea went back to her desk and contemplated to herself for a moment. This incursion had left her feeling somewhat uneasy. Something strange was going on, especially after Haldia's message that finally came through. The fact that a certain number of people were beamed off the cargo ship did not bode well with Serea. There had to be something more to it since no cargo was stolen like in other attacks. Her door chime echoed in her office while she was in mid-thought.

            "Enter," she said as she walked from around her desk to see her visitors.

            The bald Armenian Captain entered the room and to his side, a short and extremely bothered Ferengi seemed to mutter.

            "Captain Barsegayn," she said shaking the human's hand and shaking it before turning to the DaiMon. "DaiMon Soln, it is unfortunate that we meet under these circumstances."

            "It is very unfortunate," he agreed with gleaming beady eyes. 

            Serea nodded and motioned for them to sit in the chairs in front of her desk. She filled two cups with the greenish-yellow liquid from the teapot and placed them in front of her guests.

            Captain Barsegayn's eyes lit up for a moment as he noticed the tea. He gave a slight toast to her as he lifted his cup to lips. He realized she must have remembered he liked tea, and green tea was his favorite at that. She nodded in acknowledgement as she poured a cup for herself and sat in her chair across the desk from them. The DaiMon carefully took the cup she put in front of him. He sniffed it hesitantly, before sipping some of the hot liquid, then let some of the warm steam roll over his tired face.

            "I guess I should consider myself lucky my cargo was not taken. Though, it is regrettable for those three who were beamed off," the DaiMon admitted after a moment.

            "Do you know why three of your crewmen were taken by the Breen? What would they want with them?" Barsegayn asked.

            "They were not part of my crew," the little man quipped and then took a large gulp of the green tea that he realized tasted better after adding a dash of sugar.

            Serea felt the knot tighten in her stomach a little more with his comment.

            "Who were they?" she asked leaning across the desk.

*                       *                       *                       *

            Rilar looked up as he noticed Commander Serea exit her office with both Captain Barsegayn and DaiMon Soln. The Ferengi and the captain of the _Victoria_ bid their farewells and went on to their own business. She took notice of Raleigh standing nearby, looking over security reports of how the security teams handled the earlier situation and of Rilar who already was watching her movements.

            "Raleigh, Rilar," she said to them. "Please join me in my office for a moment."

            The two men nodded and followed her to her office. As they took their seats in front of her desk, they eyed her tapping her nails rhythmically on the desktop, as she appeared to be thinking about something.

            "There will be some things we will discuss that I wish we could keep quiet about this incident but seeing as that the Ferengi crew has already integrated themselves among the station population, there is not much we can do about it now," she began and then turned her back on them as she gazed at the stars for a moment. She took a deep breath and then turned to face them, letting her eyes burn with the importance of what she was about to say.

            "As you both know, three people were beamed off of DaiMon Soln's cargo ship," she started, the two men nodded. "However, they were not part of his crew nor were they Ferengi."

            Serea noticed a flash of confusion register on their faces for a quick second. Raleigh got to his voice first.

            "Who were these passengers?" he asked.

            "All of them were Jetallans," she informed them. "There was a delegation of ten economists who had been on Ferenginar for a few months studying financial and marketing strategies they could implement in the future on Jetal. They had booked passage on Soln's ship in order to return back. Their movements were not secret, nor were these delegates of high importance from Jetal. There is also no logical reason as to why the other seven delegates were not kidnapped as well."

            "This may cause some security concerns and panic on the planet's surface," Raleigh said tensely. 

            "All the more reason we should step up security in this sector," Serea said. "I have already informed _Starfleet_ _Command_ about the situation and they will be sending more starships out our way until we are at full strength. But I would also like to step up patrols by the squadrons during certain duty shifts."

            "That should not cause any problems," Rilar replied. "I have already begun a schedule with Lt. Haldia. Her report on the incident should be on my desk by tomorrow morning when we can review it in detail."

            "I look forward to going over it," Serea nodded. "I also want you two to keep your eyes and ears open while you are around the station. I want to know if anyone here knows anything about what happened."

            Rilar and Raleigh nodded in agreement.

            "Dismissed," she said and they stood.

*************************************************************************

~Author's Note~

I've begun a new fanfic titled "My So-Called Undead Life" for the TV show _Dead Like Me_ from the Showtime cable channel. Though, ff.net does not have a section for this show just yet, I have posted my first writings at adultfanfiction.net. I have a first chapter written and am hoping to see interest first before continuing. Please check it out if you get the chance and are of age to visit the site!

I also started another fanfic on ff.net titled "Eternal" from the book _The Silmarillion_, the prequel to _The Hobbit_ and _The Lord of the Rings_. Check it out! :) I also promise more soon! I know this one was a tad short so I promise to make a long one next!

~TQ~


	15. Happenings

**Chapter Fourteen: Happenings **

            Shannal Haldia eased down into the seat at a table on the Replimat. She let out a contented sigh as she settled and prepared to begin her meal.

            "That seat is taken," Syrreiya Naetharr growled.

            "By whom? Your invisible friend, Renee?" Haldia said with a roll of her eyes as she tried to light-heartedly tease the Jetallan woman who simply stared back with annoyance. "What? I can't spend some time with a fellow crewmember at dinner?"

            "No," Naetharr answered.

            "Why not?" Haldia questioned.

            "Is there a point to your pestering me?" Naetharr asked.

            "No, just having some fun driving you insane," Haldia replied and then offered a plate with dessert on it. "Chocolate?"

            "I do not eat chocolate," the Jetallan answered.

            "Blasphemy!" Haldia said with a shake of her head in disbelief. "Everyone loves chocolate, it is good for you."

            "I doubt that," Naetharr said, exasperated. 

            "Fine, fine," Haldia sighed. "I just thought we could get along since we are so similar."

            "I find that hard to believe," she responded. 

            "How so?" Haldia inquired as after munching on some of her pasta on her plate next to the chocolate. "Our home worlds were occupied for some time. We both had a rather… enlightening time at the Academy when we met new people."

            Naetharr rolled her eyes at the comments. She did not know what Haldia was getting at but she was getting rather bothered by her continuous conversation.

            "Oh and I almost forgot," Haldia said, her eyes shining suddenly. "There are those little tricks we both can do with our minds…"

            Naetharr's eyes narrowed immediately. Now she had crossed the line in Naetharr's comfort zone.

            "Sneaking around one's thoughts is not a safe thing to do," she said quietly.

            "Nor is keeping secrets like whatever it is you are hiding," Haldia pointed out and tapped her own head. "You cannot hide much from me. I suggest you should bring it out in the open soon, especially if you think it has something to do with these disappearances occurring."

            "You do not know what you are talking about," Naetharr growled as she stood and walked away, leaving Haldia alone.

            _Testy today, aren't we? _Haldia thought and also mentally sent on to Naetharr with an amused look on her face.

*          *            *

            The door chime interrupted the waltz that had been playing throughout Serea's quarters. Serea opened her eyes from the meditative rest she had settled into while listening to the melody. She stared at the door for a moment. _Who would be coming at this hour?_

            Hearing the chime repeat, she sat up straighter in the couch and retrieved her still warm cup of Vulcan tea.

            "Come," she answered.

            Raleigh stood outside her doorway, a padd in hand.

            "I know it is late but I believe this couldn't wait," he explained as he raised the padd. "Plus, I knew you would be awake."

            Serea felt like grumbling but resisted the urge, it bothered her slightly that a new member of her crew knew her already so well while she was trying to get a new start far away from her former life.

            "Come in and have a seat" she said, keeping her voice monotone. "What is it you would like to show me?"

            Raleigh entered and took a seat in the chair across from her.

            "I was doing some researching on Jetal and many of the incursions that have been occurring in nearby sectors," he said. "I also included in my research any strange happenings which brought up these."

            He handed her the padd he had been carrying and she took it as she placed her cup of tea on the saucer on her table. She tapped through the padd as she scanned the information he had compiled.

            "Missing persons reports," she said. "From Jetal and other freight ships."

            "And if you check the dates, they have been occurring only over the past three months at random intervals after the war ended," he described. "But the number of reports have picked up in the past few weeks on a steady pace."

            "Intriguing," Serea said glancing through the report as she listened. 

            "Many of the disappearances coincided with Breen incursions and attacks on freight ships," he continued. "There were also some unidentified ships that came through the system, near or in orbit to Jetal, before _Starfleet_ had a foothold here. Several missing people disappeared around that time as well."

            "How many 'coincidences' do you have?" Serea asked she was cautious about making any assumptions too early.

            "Out of nearly one hundred fifty disappearances? About sixty percent fall within Breen attacks on ships or during the time of the mysterious orbiting ships," he determined. "Another ten percent there's not enough information collected on the disappearances. I know that is barely a slight majority but something just does not seem right."

            "I concur," she said hesitantly. "This seems fairly odd indeed. It would not hurt, though, to look into this further, especially if it will help in our investigation of finding the three Jetallans kidnapped earlier today." She handed the report back to him. "Make any preparations you need and work with Vedrann as much as you can, he might be of some help. I will inform _Starfleet_ of the progress on the investigation."

            "Thank you," he said as he took the padd back but did not move to leave.

            "Is there something else you wish to discuss?" she asked, knowing full well what he intended.

            "I was hoping we could talk," he said, placing the padd on the table. "You know, like we used to."

            Serea knew what he was getting at but she would not let him lead her down that path.

            "Are you liking this new posting?" he asked suddenly breaking the quiet and taking the initiative since it was apparent she would not. 

            "It is an adequate posting for myself but is overall an important position of responsibility in this sector that _Starfleet_ has put me in, but I neither like nor dislike it," she answered.

            "You have a great crew though," he said. "Those whom I have met are some great additions and officers here. They are much different from the _Callahan_'s crew though."

            Serea simply nodded in response. Raleigh turned the padd over in his hands uncertainly. She was purposely not letting him get into much conversation by not giving anything to it and she was definitely not trying to be a good host by offering him a cup of tea or another drink. He knew she saw this as an intrusion but was keeping it as polite yet uncomfortable as she could without being downright rude.

            "I see you brought the dagger Konrath gave you after the retaking of Ocarion Prime," Raleigh said suddenly as he stood and walked over to the _taj_ hanging on the wall.

            "It was a gift of honor from Captain Konrath," she said as she came to stand next to him to look at the weapon. "To not display such a tribute would be a disgrace to his name in the Klingon tradition."

            "Where is the matching bat'leth?" he asked.

            Serea locked her jaw and took a deep breath before answering, "I gave it to Thomas."

            Raleigh became bothered and shifted on his feet uneasily.

            "You gave it to his brother?" he asked, his voice lowered. "I think Jon would have wanted you to keep it." 

            He paused, waiting for her to answer but after she did not, he shifted uneasily on his feet before answering. "What does it matter anyway, you got rid of everything else that reminds you of him as if he never happened to you."

            Serea felt a small quiet urge to punch Raleigh square in the jaw but she held it down as well fought the urge to give him a tongue lashing for accusing her as such. Instead she tried to keep her voice calm and steady.

            "It is illogical for someone to attempt to forget a person by simply removing objects since the impression one leaves on another's mind is permanent," she said. "I do not fault you for your misconceptions on the matter. Though, perhaps it is time for you to leave… Lieutenant Commander."

            Raleigh inwardly winced at the use of his rank. Never in the years he had served under her had she addressed him in that formal of a way. Even though the words stung, he knew he had struck a nerve within her, despite her lack of emotion.

            "As you wish, Commander," he replied and spun on his heel about-face to walk out the door.

            Serea turned and went to bedroom as soon as the door to her quarters swished shut. She immediately went to her prayer set up and lit one of the candles she had placed nearby. She set the candle into a holder and sat upon a rug she had laid out next to the dresser and bed. Sitting cross-legged, she focused on the light of the flame and concentrated so that she could set herself into a relaxed meditative state. It was after a half-hour that she finally began to feel her anger wash away and her pounding heart slow its pace. As soon as she was satisfied, she prepared and brought herself to her bed where she promptly fell asleep.

*          *            *

            "Hold your paddle like this…" Rilar instructed to Katja as he placed her tiny hand in the appropriate hold. "Perfect, now try and return the ball over the net when James serves it to you."

            "Ok!" the little girl answered, her eyes watching James in prepared concentration.

            "Ready?" Michael asked, as he stood ready. Katja nodded in response.

            He served the ball easily to her over the net and she hit the ball back to him. The small white ball made it back over the net and he was able to hit it back to her, still keeping a simple pace for the new, young player. 

            "See how much easier it is if you hold the paddle that way instead of how you did before?" Rilar said in approval.

            Senecal smiled as she watched her daughter's excited figure play the ball back to Michael a second time. She was glad to see her daughter in high spirits as well as be lucky to have found friends in her fellow crew members who were so kind to involve the both of them in their random nightly ping pong tournaments.

            "I believe she has a natural aptitude for the game," commented L'Nara from beside Senecal. "Katja may win a match against Lieutenant Michael with little practice and time."

            "I heard that," said the engineer with a mock scowl in the Vulcan's direction. "I'm still waiting for our rematch."

            "I have been away on Jetal and thus unable to compete," L'Nara said.

            "Excuses, excuses…" mumbled Michael as he continued to hit the ball over the net to his giggling opponent.

            Senecal chuckled to herself quietly and then made her way over to where Rilar stood.

            "Do you mind watching her for a few minutes?" she asked her friend. "I just realized I forgot something back at the Infirmary."

            "Not at all," Rilar said warmly. "I think she's deeply enthralled and won't notice your leaving."

            "Thank you," she smiled. "I'll just be a little while."

            Slipping out the door of the holosuite, Senecal made her way out of the semi-empty establishment that the crew had turned into a game hall and headed for the open walkways of the Promenade. She eyed the hanging sign identifying the Infirmary further up ahead and quickened her pace without noticing the hunched figure coming up behind her. Her mind had been busy with thoughts and other distractions, which had led to her forgetting some medical reports and journals she meant to read before going to bed that night. As she entered, she found her nurse, Bithar Keddan, minding shop on a fairly quiet night. He was sitting behind one of the consoles reading a padd.

            "Good evening, Doctor," Keddan greeted as he noticed her walk into the room.

            "Hello, Bithar," she replied as she spied her own padds on the console across from him. "How are things?"

            "Fine," he said with a shrug. "Just keeping myself busy. What brings you here tonight?"

            "Came to collect something I forgot," she grinned.

            Senecal was about to retrieve them when she heard someone stumble in behind her. Spinning around, she found Syrreiya Naetharr crumpled on the floor in front of her. The young Jetallan's face was pale and contorted in pain as she breathed quickly and heavily. Senecal quickly rushed to her with Keddan close behind with a tricorder in hand.

            "_Lakatti-feh_, Bithar," Naetharr hissed out of her clenched teeth. "_Ui'la hetale _metichloridal."

            Senecal was surprised for a moment when she heard Naetharr speak in another language other than Jetallan to Keddan that had not been translated by the universal translators. Rarely had the language contraptions run across something it had not heard or could figure out. She understood one portion of what Naetharr said: metichloridal, a medical drug used for pain in extreme cases but was unstable and therefore rarely used if at all. She reached out to take Naetharr's arm when Keddan grabbed Senecal's wrist roughly.

            "You cannot touch her!" he said shrilly, his eyes calm yet urgent. "Do not make skin contact."

            Senecal leveled her gaze at him before letting him take Naetharr up in his arms, careful not to make skin contact, to the backroom where the bio-beds were. He laid her upon the bed and immediately went to a tray of nearby hyposprays. Senecal in the meantime had taken Keddan's medical tricorder and was scanning Naetharr's vitals. Her eyes narrowed as she read the strange information appearing on her screen.

            Keddan hurried over and pressed the hypospray to Naetharr's neck, which made the chief engineer's body relax to a degree from its tenseness. She immediately eased her breathing and appeared to fall asleep from the exhaustive toll her body just went through. Senecal noticed the vital scans on the tricorder begin to balance out to normal. She then began a more thorough scan. Her eyes flickered to Keddan, who appeared anxious but seemed relieved to see his fellow Jetallan go into a tranquil slumber.

            "You know what is wrong with her," Senecal said more so as a statement than a question.

            "We cannot let anyone know about this," Keddan said, his voice low. "You mustn't say anything."

            "I have to," Senecal replied. "And you need to tell me what is going on. Her immune system is going crazy and there are some strange readings I am getting from her central nervous system. You have to let me know what is happening to Lieutenant Naetharr in case her state worsens."

            "No, I cannot," he said. "It is a secret of our people. I cannot break Syrreiya's trust as well as the few others like her."

            "Then I will," said the recently arrived Vedrann from behind them. 

****************************************

Yes, I know, evil me for leaving you guys with a cliffhanger but I couldn't help it. I'm in a crazy mood tonight. I felt bad for not writing a lot recently so I'm moving the story along much faster than I originally anticipated. Though, it all will work out in the end. Sorry once more for not updating regularly… I had some German visitors living with me while at the same time I had some lovely midterms. *cries* Plus, my new job has stolen away lots of my free time but now time = money so that is important. Hopefully my upcoming 'promotion' won't interfere too much with my extra free time. But school will be over in just under a month and I will have much more time to write for you guys.

            ~TQ~


	16. Closet Skeletons

**Chapter Fifteen: Closet Skeletons**

"There are some of us, Jetallans that is, who have certain abilities," Vedrann began. "We call it _Lakatti-feh_, or translated roughly to 'listening touch'. It is only a small segment of Jetal's worldwide population but the entire population knows of it. To explain it is difficult but describing it in simple terms would basically mean a telepathic connection through the contact of skin to skin. But it is much more than that, those with the ability not only can speak mind to mind through touch but can retrieve memories and plant thoughts in others heads if one is not too careful."

Serea listened to Vedrann's words as she kept her gaze on Naetharr across the room in the Infirmary where Bithar kept a close watch over her. Sleeping soundly, the Chief Engineer did not hear a word being spoken from her surrogate brother. Serea herself had been roused in the middle of the night by Dr. Senecal by the sudden event of Naetharr's strange health problems. The doctor had thought it best that when Vedrann offered information into Naetharr's illness that Commander Serea hear it as well. Rilar and L'Nara also joined their company since they had been nearby during the incident and Raleigh had been called to join them as well.

"Why did _Starfleet_ not hear about this before or notice it on bio scans of Jetallans when the _Federation_ came in after the Cardassians left?" Serea asked.

"No one says anything about it to outsiders so that we may protect those with the differences," Vedrann explained. "Normal medical scans do not see anything but thorough study reveals the small differences in genetic makeup between Jetallans who have _Lakatti-feh_ and those who do not."

"Did the Cardassians know about this ability?" Raleigh asked suddenly.

Vedrann sighed heavily, "Yes, they did. They discovered it not long after their first attempt to occupy our world. Our last defensive tactic against the Cardassians was an attempt to mind control with those who had the ability. It failed and many perished for it while others were taken prisoner for torturous studies, surgeries, and procedures."

"What exactly is wrong with Lieutenant Naetharr then?" Senecal asked; she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up when she heard Vedrann mention the dishonorable medical practice use.

"She is one of the few who survived such tests," he said. "And I am one as well except she endured much more than I did from their madness."

Vedrann felt all eyes upon him as he let his own secret come out. L'Nara was the first to speak since she was unfazed by his statement.

"What did the Cardassians attempt to do to you and Lt. Naetharr?" she asked out of her scientist curiosity.

"The Cardassians wanted to harness our power somehow or even enhance it. They wanted us to be some sort of new invasion and occupation force for their military demands. But they did not have the technology to do so until after the Dominion joined with them," Vedrann said with a shake of his head. "I was lucky that I escaped before much more could be done to me. One naturally born with _Lakatti-feh_ can control it so that they do not overwhelm others with small contact. Syrreiya and I do not have that capability because of the Cardassians. Syrreiya has a stronger enhancement than I do and she can be a danger to others if she is not careful. She sometimes would have bouts of strong occurrences and other times where she would have no affects at all. I am not a threat to anyone but I avoid contact with everyone else."

He held up his gloved hands as proof and it suddenly became clear to those who had wondered about his habit. But a strange look came upon Serea's face as she looked upon him and then to Naetharr.

"Why does she not wear gloves as you do if she has a stronger unhindered ability?" she questioned.

"I believe that leads us to where we are tonight," Vedrann said, his voice low. "When she attended the Academy, I believe she discovered a drug that obstructed many of the harsher portions of her _Lakatti-feh_ and she became dependent on it. When she returned here, Bithar held a position to her advantage in accessing what she needed. I believe the drug is having some unforeseen side effects."

"What is her status now?" Serea asked, turning to Senecal.

"Her bio-signs have returned to normal and I've started her on a treatment to wean her nervous system off of the metichloridal. I will release her in a few days from the Infirmary once she has finished the treatment and shows no sign of withdrawal."

"Thank you, Doctor," Serea said with a nod. "As for the rest of us, I'd like to keep this quiet, we do not want the Jetallan population to become alarmed that we have discovered this. I do not want them believing we might do the same as the Cardassians did once their secret was learned."

"Yes, ma'am," the crew murmured in response.

They began to disperse and leave the Infirmary to go back to their quarters for the night. Serea remained as she watched Senecal return to her patient and check Naetharr's vital signs while Vedrann stayed at his adopted sister's side. Raleigh, who had not left, remained leaning against a far wall of the room, his face showing him deep in thought.

"What do you make of this?" Sera asked him, suddenly appearing beside Raleigh without his noticing. He looked at her a little surprised but returning to his usual calm expressionless face.

"What makes you think I am on to something?" he said with a twitch of his lips.

"I know you well enough that there is something you believe is connected to all this," Serea said referring to Naetharr's condition.

"You're right," he said after a slight hesitation. "I was just thinking about how Vedrann mentioned the Cardassians passing the information on to the Dominion after siding with them at the beginning of the war."

"And you believe the information was also given to someone other than the Jem'Hadar or the Founders?" Serea said with an upturned eyebrow. "Perhaps another of their allies?"

"The Breen," Raleigh answered nodding his head as he realized she was thinking exactly what he had been. "Which might lead into why the kidnappings are happening. It's an odd connection but too much of a coincidence."

"We do not know if those kidnapped had the _Lakatti-feh_ Vedrann has spoken of," Sera answered. "But we cannot be sure unless we investigate it. I also do not see why the Breen would want the Jetallans who will obviously go unwillingly to work for them. There must be something else connected that we do not understand quite yet."

"We might just have to wait this one out and see what develops," Raleigh said solemnly. "That might be our only choice for the time being."

"I do not want to see more kidnappings occur," Serea said. "But if this is our only course of action, so be it. I would like you to discuss this with Commander Rilar and Vedrann as well. I would like to see what insight they will give as to protecting this sector, especially this station and Jetal. Otherwise, speak to no one else about this theory. I will talk to _Starfleet Command_ and see what they can do for us."

Serea made to leave but was halted by a small chuckle from Raleigh.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Nothing," he said, a small smile on his lips. "It is good to see you haven't lost your touch."

He then moved away from the wall and went on his way back to his quarters.

_A few hours later..._

Syrreiya Naetharr felt herself steadily awakening from the fog that surrounded her consciousness. Slowly opening her eyes, she saw the blurriness of the Infirmary around her and she grappled inwardly with her memories to remember what had last happened with her. As she opened her eyes wider, she found Vedrann sitting next to her bed reading a padd. He was not alone however; Bithar sat at the far end of the room at the main console desk. Her limbs and body felt stiff and heavy as she became more aware of her surroundings and she attempted to lift herself up but groaned as she felt the lack of strength available for such a feat.

"I see you are awake," Vedrann said as he noticed her movements. "You need to lie still and rest."

Naetharr glanced at him as she took a deep breath, "What happened?"

"You had a reaction," Vedrann said. "To that drug you have been taking from the Academy."

Naetharr grumbled to herself as she realized the mess she had just gotten herself in. "Did Bithar contact you?"

Her voice was hoarse and dry but she was able to manage speaking coherently enough.

"No," Vedrann said as he cupped her face and brushed away her disheveled raven locks. "Doctor Senecal did."

Naetharr winced as she realized the _Starfleet_ doctor had also found her crumpled on the doorstep of the Infirmary. _This could be a problem…I hope Bithar stopped her from saying anything…_

"They know," Vedrann suddenly said.

Naetharr realized he was not wearing his gloves and had heard her thoughts as he touched her.

"They would have found out soon enough anyways," Naetharr explained. "Someone else was figuring it out."

"Who?" Vedrann asked with a little surprise.

Naetharr flicked her mind to the conversation she had earlier that day during lunch. She watched as Vedrann's face changed to understanding.

"I see," he said simply. "There is not much you can hide from strong telepaths like Betazoids."

"I have nothing else to hide from her anymore," Naetharr said as she attempted to roll onto her side. "The entire station knows by now."

"No, Commander Serea has seen to it that word will not get out and that no one is to speak of this," Vedrann assured her. "If someone speaks about this, she does not seem the type to hold back punishment worthy of not following orders. She did not like the fact that Bithar was helping you with your sneaking around taking medications. Though, she does seem concerned about your well being so I do not she will be harsh on you or Bithar."

"That is good to know," Naetharr said with a huff and shifted her position to one more comfortable. "And I can assume they will be keeping me in here for a time."

Vedrann nodded slowly, "For now, you need to rest and gain your strength back. I also do not want you to do anything drastic like taking that medicine anymore."

She rolled her eyes and sighed deeply as she attempted to roll back onto her back, still unable to find a comfortable part of the bio-bed. Vedrann shook his head and stood to leave.

"We will talk more about this later when you are feeling more like yourself," he said. "For now, rest well."

Author's Note:

Sorry about the long delay in posting updates but my job has taken more time than I thought they would. I will try to keep up some more for you all, especially since the plot is thickening. Hope you enjoyed! Sorry about the format... I'm not too happy with this new quickedit/preview feature... takes away all my fun little tiddleys and asteriks.

TQ


	17. Goings On

Disclaimer: I do not own anything of Star Trek in this story but my own characters; all else belongs to the Great Bird of the Galaxy.

****

**Chapter Sixteen: Goings On**

Syrreiya Naetharr heard footsteps approaching her bed, coming from behind her as she lay on her side. The steps were too heavy for them to be the doctor who stepped lightly and carefully. It was not Vedrann or Bithar either. The lights were dim in the backroom of the Infirmary and she felt her sore muscles tense as the presence behind her approach closer and finally stopped.

"There's nothing to worry about," the female voice said. "It's only me. Computer, lights at double the intensity as set."

The lights flickered brighter in the room as Naetharr turned to face Shannal Haldia. It had been a day since Naetharr had collapsed at the front of the Infirmary and she had slept most of the time to build up her energy once more and to have her body adapt to the sudden changes. Besides than Vedrann, Senecal, and Bithar, Naetharr had no visitors and word on the station to cover her disappearance from duty was that she had taken a short vacation to Jetal. Though, it appeared not everyone believed that story.

"Do you want to bother me even while I am weak?" Naetharr said dryly as she squinted in the brightness.

"Despite how unbelievable it sounds," Haldia said as she found a nearby chair and pulled it over to the bedside. "I wanted to cheer you up and keep you company."

"You are right, I don't believe you," Naetharr said as she turned her back to the Betazoid again and pulled her thermal blanket over her head.

The blanket was promptly pulled off by Haldia who had a wicked smile on her face yet her eyes betrayed her seriousness of the visit.

"I thought we could talk for a while," Haldia said. "Share what is on our minds."

"You already know what is on all our minds, especially mine," Naetharr said as she glared angrily at her for stealing her blanket. "You already knew where to find me."

"I would not have believed anyone in the first place if they told me you went on leave," Haldia said with a shrug. "It doesn't sound like you."

Naetharr did not answer and turned back on her side so that her back once more faced Haldia. She did not feel like talking with her.

Haldia sighed suddenly, "If you're going to be like that, it isn't going to help. I'm going to keep coming back to check on you."

Naetharr grumbled to herself and did not answer again. She hoped the lieutenant would leave her be.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Haldia said. "I brought you a little book to read to pass the time. I'll leave it on the table if you're interested. See you tomorrow."

Naetharr heard the steps recede and grow dimmer as Haldia left the Infirmary. She turned over to verify the Betazoid woman had left and found the room empty. An item on the table caught her eye and she noticed a padd sitting nearby. She ignored it and laid back down on her bed, pulling the missing blanket back over her. After half an hour of tossing and turning, Naetharr, frustrated, flipped over onto her back and stared at the ceiling. She turned her head and glanced at the book once more. _It wouldn't hurt to take a peak…_

_Earlier that same day…_

Christopher Raleigh entered the office of his commanding officer after he was called to meet with her. He paused in front of her desk as he watched finish typing notes on a padd.

"Please take a seat, Commander," she said, still working on her padd.

He soundless sat himself in the chair across from her and waited for her to begin. After a few moments, she placed the padd down and turned to him.

"I have informed _Starfleet _of our situation and they are taking it very seriously," she began. "They are sending the _Titus_ back in our direction and the _Victoria_ will remain in the sector for the time being."

"I'm sure we will do well fending off anymore attacks with two starships around but that's not going to rectify the situation," Raleigh sighed. "We need to find the source to all of this and bring it to an end."

"I am aware of that," Serea answered. "_Starfleet_ also mentioned that they have had intelligence looking into this for some time. The admiral would not elaborate much further than that but it seems they've had their eyes on the Breen's movements for a while now."

"And are waiting for them to strike first," Raleigh said. "Will our crew be involved in any of the 'operations' being implemented?"

"Not that I know of," she said. "But I believe we will be before long. The intelligence has said chatter over subspace communications has increased substantially in the past few weeks for the Breen. Whatever they are planning, we will soon see. Therefore, I would like to see security stepped up and the station on standby red alert if another attack is imminent."

"I will go over preparations with Rilar as soon as possible," Raleigh said.

"I also would like to keep the fighter squadron on call here," Serea said then continued after seeing Raleigh's questioning glance, she continued with an explanation. "I would rather have them here and mobilized within a few minutes rather than out patrolling with an ETA of fifteen or more minutes. The _Victoria_ can guard the sector in the meantime. We would be stretched too thin with both the squadron and the _Victoria_ out. If the Breen were to attack the station while they were away, I do not want to rely on our small defenses alone."

"That is understandable," Raleigh conceded. "And if they were to attack the planet with a large force, we would not be able to stop them with our capabilities just here on _DS13 _without receiving heavy damage."

"My thoughts exactly," Serea said with a nod. "I know, despite my efforts and orders otherwise, word might be leaking out as we speak about what we have learned and I want the Jetallans to have some security they can rely on since the planetary defenses are not up to standard at all."

"Of course," Raleigh agreed. He knew Jetal was practically a sitting duck to anything that would occur in the system without many defenses between them and the attackers.

"Inform those who need to know about the changes and let me know when they are fully prepared.

"I'll get to it right away," Raleigh said as he stood and proceeded out the door.

Serea stayed in her seat as she watched him go. She looked over her desk, seeing it strewn with work to do. After a moment, she stood and headed for the turbolift.

_Not long later…_

Naetharr's eyes glanced up as she heard footsteps approaching the entrance to her secluded back room in the Infirmary. She wondered to herself who was visiting her this time or if it was just Doctor Senecal or Bithar there to do more tests on her condition. To her muted surprise, it was the least likely person she expected to show up at her bedside.

"Commander," Naetharr said, attempting to appear somewhat professional despite her position and patient clothing.

She started to shift up into a sitting position but Serea motioned for her to lie still.

"Consider this off duty," she said. "No need for protocol."

"What can I do for you?" Naetharr answered hesitantly. She did not know what to think of this unexpected drop in and it unnerved her slightly.

"I came to see you and how your condition is," Serea said.

"Vedrann has already told you everything you need to know," Naetharr curtly put. "I do not think there is anything else to discuss about my health since he has gladly given you the information."

"I prefer discussing some issues with you," Serea said.

"You could ask Dr. Senecal, I would think she could give you a more thorough explanation," Naetharr said rather bluntly.

Serea could tell that Naetharr had her wall up and would not budge on discussing her abilities at the time. _Perhaps once she is comfortable and not threatened…_ Serea thought.

"I do not wish to speak with her," Serea answered. "I would like to talk to you."

Naetharr eyed her warily, "I do not understand."

"I wish to converse with you," Serea said stoically.

_Things are getting stranger and stranger today…_ Naetharr thought to herself.

"From what I have heard from the doctor and Bithar, my condition is gradually doing better," Naetharr said slowly. "Though, not as quickly as they had earlier assessed but I will return to duty on the same day I was planned to be released."

"Do not return to duty until you have your strength back completely," Serea said. "I do not want your health to suddenly decline because you began again too soon. I was hoping that you were relaxing during your time off duty, I see you have already made your time here interesting."

Serea finished as she picked up the padd containing the book on Naetharr's bedside that she had placed there when Serea had first arrived.

"Lieutenant Haldia brought it for me," Naetharr said. "I am having a hard time following the story. It is very confusing but most human stories are."

"Perhaps it is the cultural differences and it is hard to visualize certain things that you may not have heard much about," Serea said with a raised an eyebrow at the statement and then read the title. "I am mistaken; Lt. Haldia should have given you _The Magician's Nephew_ to read before this one."

"There are others?" Naetharr looked at her with wide eyes.

"Yes, this book…" Serea said, holding up the padd. "Is the second book in _The Chronicles of Narnia_."

Naetharr let a hiss of breath escape from her lips as she grumbled something in Jetallan under her breath.

"Sometimes the second book is a better read than the first," she explained as she placed the padd back on the table.

"Have you read them?" Naetharr questioned.

"Yes, as a child I did," Serea said. She paused a moment, wondering if the Jetallan would wonder why she, a Vulcan, would read such a text. She had not meant to bring her past into question, especially with one her barely knew her. She had only meant to come and check on her crewmember but now it was becoming an in depth chat session. Though, her concerns went unnoticed by the suddenly red-faced engineer.

"I should have known it was a children's book," Naetharr angrily spat.

"Why do you feel insulted?" Serea said. "Many adults read the series to this day. The ideas of other worlds in fantasy always intrigue minds and imagination."

"That does not clear up why there is a lamp post in the middle of nowhere," Naetharr said, exasperated.

"Lt. Haldia might have given you that book for a reason," Serea said. "I'm positive she will discuss it with you soon." Standing, Serea began to head for the door. "If not, I will be back in a couple days to see how you have improved."

_Not far away from the Infirmary…_

"Now you know what it feels like to be the boss," laughed Rilar.

"It explains why she's so grumpy all the time and ready to bite our heads off," grumbled Michaels as he struggled to assign work to the engineering department while trying to finish several of Naetharr's that had been unfinished as well as some of his own.

"Perhaps now you can give her some slack?" Rilar suggested.

"We'll see," Michaels said as he glared at the panel in front of him at the Engineering station then looked at his friend. "I've got to go take care of some power conduits; I'll see you later when I'm hopefully not busy."

"Hope you enjoy yourself," Rilar smiled as he watched his friend take off on the lift.

He turned back to his own station and began checking through some files and reports he and Raleigh had been compiling. They had been at it most of the day trying to come up with some strategic plans as well as attempting to find some connections between the Breen and Jetallans. It was right then when the alert began beeping. Quickly glancing down, he immediately recognized the alert as a distress signal.

"Computer, Red Alert," he called out. "Commander Serea to the Command Center."

"I am here Commander, what is it?" Serea said suddenly stepping off the recently arrived lift.

"We are receiving a distress signal from the transport ship _S.S._ _Calamity_," he elaborated to her as he quickly read threw the message sent. "The ship was en route to dock with us but are now under attack by several Breen ships five light years from here."

A few moments later, Raleigh came up the lift to assess what was going on.

"Inform the _Victoria_ of the situation and have them head to the transport. Ready the squadron in case we have an attack of our own" she asked. "I do not want to risk this as a diversion for something bigger against us."

"Yes, ma'am," Rilar said as he followed orders.

"What is the status of the situation?" Raleigh asked a couple minutes later.

"The distress signal has been jammed by the attackers. We cannot contact them," Rilar informed. "The _Victoria_ is still two light year away but can scan the situation and is sending telemetry to us. There is heavy damage to the _Calamity_ and her shields have failed."

Serea remained quiet as she waited nearby staring at a nearby star chart on the center table that Rilar had imposed the telemetry on. It was bold of the Breen renegades to attempt attacks so close together. She knew there was nothing more they could do from their position but watch. It seemed like forever but only a dozen minutes had passed when Rilar finally spoke up.

"The _Victoria_ is approaching the scene… the Breen are retreating," Rilar said suddenly. "They're heading out at maximum warp. The _Victoria_ is not pursuing and is reporting heavy injuries and many casualties on the _Calamity _but they are bringing the _Calamity_ in to dock as quickly as possible."

"Good," Raleigh said relieved. "I wonder what they were after… Rilar, do you have a passenger manifest for the transport? We should find out if there are any Jetallans aboard."

"I just pulled it up," Rilar said as he displayed it on a large screen at his station.

"Commander Serea to the Infirmary," she announced on the comm. "Prepare for casualties."

"We're on it," Doctor Senecal answered over the line.

Raleigh began to scan over the names, searching for obvious Jetallan names and forms. Serea approached and peered at the list over his shoulder. There did not appear to be any Jetallans on the passenger ship but several other alien races of various origins. Her eyes stopped on one name and she took a quick, deep breath; however, someone noticed her sudden reaction.

"What is it?" Raleigh asked.

"Commander Rilar, you are with me. Before the _Victoria_ and the _Calamity_ are in transporter range, we must get to the Infirmary and locate where Lorias Brenal is and if he is one of injured or dead," she said. "Commander Raleigh, you have command for the time being."

"Right away, ma'am," Rilar said without questioning her orders.

Raleigh watched as Serea and Rilar headed up to the lift and headed down to the Promenade to intercept the person she named. Rilar's demeanor had changed somewhat; he seemed to know what Serea had noticed and the reason for their hustling to the Infirmary.

**Author's Note:**

I must apologize greatly for not updating sooner. Summer school had greatly cut into my free time and work isn't helping the situation either. Well getting engaged is a good excuse too! (hands out chocolate chip cookies and bottles of Romulan Ale to everyone) Please forgive me for not updating? Pretty please? :) Good! I hope to get more of the story out soon as possible!


	18. Unforeseen

Disclaimer: I do not own anything of Star Trek in this story but my own characters; all else belongs to the Great Bird of the Galaxy.

Author's Note: After some thought I decided to continue this fan fiction because I sorely missed writing Star Trek. Plus, with the end of _Enterprise_, there is more demand for at least some Trek entertainment. Hope you all enjoy.

**Chapter Seventeen: Unforeseen **

The Promenade was full of people peering out at the _Victoria_ as she pulled the _Calamity_ into dock at _DS13_. Word had spread quickly of what had happened beyond the solar system with the Breen ships attacking the transport. Concern about the safeness of the sector was beginning to weigh in on people's minds making them anxious about their and their family's well being. Little did Dr. Anja Senecal realize that the harshness of that reality was about to become apparent in her Infirmary to her own family.

Serea and Rilar had just arrived at the Infirmary minutes after a large compliment of casualties from the _Calamity_ were beamed over. The medical facility was chaotic as nurses and formerly off-duty doctors were rushing about trying to discern the patients in the most need of medical attention. Serea and Rilar realized it was impossible to check the identification of all the passengers there and instead began seeking anyone out that appeared to match Lorias Brenal's description.

Dr. Senecal had not noticed them in the confusion since her own attention was directed at helping her patients as she moved from one case to the next while they attempted to stay one step ahead of her.

"He is not here," Rilar informed Serea after pushing through to meet her amidst the disorder.

"Contact the _Calamity_ and check the uninjured," she instructed. "I will check the _Victoria_'s Sick Bay."

* * *

"I appreciate that you are allowing me this search," Serea informed Captain Barsegayn as they quickly headed up the corridor to his ship's Sick Bay.

"I understand completely your predicament," Barsegayn commented. "Hopefully we can discover where this passenger is for your officer's sake."

They arrived at the doors to the Sick Bay and they swished open quickly. Upon entering it was clear that there were many injured as well as dead; however, the bay had less of the confusion than the Infirmary of _DS13_ did mostly due to a greater number of staff on hand and better facilities. The ultimate number of casualties would have overwhelmed the _Victoria_'s medical staff and thus the reason to send some to _DS13_ despite the lacking of certain faculties.

Barsegayn and Serea approached the Chief Medical Officer who was instructing one of his nurses. After finishing, he turned to his commanding officer and visitor.

"What can I do for you, Captain?"

"Commander Serea from _DS13_ is looking for a certain passenger that was listed on the _Calamity_'s manifest," Barsegayn informed him. "I know you may not have all the names of your patients but do you have a Trill among them?"

"Actually, I do," the doctor said. "However, he was badly injured. I do not believe he will last much longer than a couple minutes despite all that we have done for him."

"Take me to him," Serea told him.

They were led to a biobed at the far end of the room, isolated from most of the activity. A figure lay underneath the blanket, the console above him beeping shrilly as his bio-readings were failing. Serea stepped up closely to the person while Barsegayn and the doctor stayed back. The man was burned badly and several gashes were visible along his torso and face but Serea was still able to discern Trill markings. Noticing a presence, the man opened his eyes and glanced to Serea, his breathing heavily labored.

"Are you Lorias Brenal?" she asked him.

He nodded slightly in response.

"I am Commander Serea from _DS13_," she explained and saw the momentary flicker of recognition of the station name.

Lorias reached out a hand from beneath his blanket and clasped Serea's. He tried to lean up toward her but could not. She leaned in closer to him for his comfort.

"It was… to be a… surprise," he choked out quietly. "I… love her. Please… tell her. And Katja, too."

"I promise I will," Serea said, placing another hand on his.

"I'm… sorry," he struggled to say. "I should have… been better to her."

A release of breath escaped him as if his spirit was released from the broken body. Serea felt his hand go limp in hers as the biobed registered the stopping of his heart. She placed his hand upon his chest and silently said in her mind a Vulcan prayer. She then walked back to Captain Barsegayn, aware of what she now must do.

* * *

Rilar looked up as he saw Serea approaching the Infirmary. Things had calmed down and were under control finally. He had relocated to inside to help with the task of collecting information from those less injured after not being able to find Lorias Brenal aboard the _Calamity_. He was also keeping an eye on Senecal in case someone inadvertently informed her of her husband's possible presence on the transport.

Serea looked to him as she entered, nodding solemnly at him in the affirmative that she had found what they had looked for. He could not tell whether the news was positive or not from her lack of expression. She headed for Dr. Senecal who was checking the logs of her nurses.

"Doctor, if I could have a moment of your time in private?" Serea asked her.

"We can go to my office," Senecal said as she motioned over to the room just adjacent to the main examining area.

After arriving in the office, Serea turned to her Chief Medical Officer but tried to find words best to tell the news. From Rilar's knowledge Senecal was aware that Senecal had not known of her husband's travel plans because she had been expecting him not for another two weeks at least.

"Doctor, I know it has been a trying day for you but I must tell you of something that came to our attention," she said. "Lorias, your husband, was on the transport attacked today."

Her eyes betrayed the sudden worry first before any emotion reached the rest of her features. The rest flashed quickly through them as she realized the possibilities.

"Was he hurt? Is he all right?" she said, her voice quivering a little.

Serea attempted to maintain her eye contact, "No, he sustained extensive injuries to his body and the _Victoria_'s medical staff was unable to save him."

The haunted look that appeared on Senecal's face next struck Serea to the very core. Senecal's face suddenly mirrored a familiar mix of emotion, pain, and anguish that rushes one unexpectedly when receiving such news. She shuddered as a chill passed through her body at the comprehension and caught her off guard. She hesitated slightly before catching Senecal by the arms as her legs gave out from under her.

The sobbing wracked her small frame as Senecal kneeled on the floor of her office. She reached out to the closest thing to her, Serea, and wrapped her arms around her commander as she cried from the depths of her heart. Serea did not move away but became uncertain as the blonde woman held onto her in her grief. She became more assured when she saw Rilar quickly come into the room.

He had been watching from the exam room and had seen Senecal collapse. He stooped down to them and placed a comforting hand on Senecal's back. Rilar looked to Serea with distressed eyes, as he knew what the news had been due to the reaction Senecal had.

* * *

An hour after receiving the news about her husband's death, Senecal had calmed a little; though her frail body still shivered like a leaf in the wind on occasion. Rilar stood by her side as she sat in a chair. Serea had informed her that she had come to Lorias' bedside in his last moments of life. She had just related that he loved both Senecal and their daughter.

"Why did he come back now and didn't tell me?" she asked the question out loud.

"He mentioned he wanted to surprise you," Serea responded.

Senecal shook her head and took a deep breath as she thought about what had been Lorias' plans.

"Did he say anything else?" she asked.

"No," Serea said. "I will leave you be now. You may take what time you need off for leave if you wish."

She turned to leave and was just outside of the office when she felt a hand grab her arm. Serea turned to find Rilar pulling her to the side.

"He did say something else, didn't he?" he whispered to her.

Serea answered quietly, "Yes. He said he wished he had treated her better but I did not think it appropriate at this time to inform her of that."

"I see," Rilar replied, his eyes narrowing at her response. "I will take her to her quarters to rest. It seems the Head Nurse has everything under control here."

"Understood," she said and headed out of the Infirmary.


	19. Secrets Kept

Disclaimer: I do not own anything of Star Trek in this story but my own characters; all else belongs to the Great Bird of the Galaxy.

Author's Note: I forgot to mention this in my last installment but I had the chance to meet a former _Star Trek_ writer at a friend's confirmation in early May. Michael Taylor is known for writing several _DS9_ and _Voyager _episodes including "The Visitor", "In the Pale Moonlight", "Collective", and "Blink of an Eye". He's currently writing for _The Dead Zone_ right now and was not too fond of _Enterprise_ (his exact comment to my opinion of _Enterprise_ was "Yeah, I don't watch it either."). Very nice man and a very good writer who appreciates the fans a lot!

**Chapter Eighteen: Secrets Kept **

Anja Senecal laid in the dark, an arm draped over the still form of her daughter curled up in bed. A sliver of light shone through the cracked door, leaving a line on the wall but letting in just enough light so that any object in the room had a faint outline as not to be in complete darkness. Senecal watched her daughter silently, looking at the contours of her tiny face, her thin fingers clutching her doll, and the dried tear stains on her rosy cheeks.

Katja cried for two hours before sleep finally overtook her tired body. Senecal promised to stay by her side for the night and would do so for each night until Katja was comfortable again. She was already worn out by the point she spoke to Katja and was fresh out of tears to cry much more with Katja despite how much it broke her heart to tell the little girl her daddy was not coming home.

The door chime rang suddenly, its sound barely audible in the shadowy bedroom. Senecal leaned up, placing a soft kiss on Katja's forehead before going to the door. She pulled on her robe over her flannel pajamas before opening the door. Rilar stood outside solemnly and looked up to her as the door opened.

"I thought I would come and see how you two were doing when I finished my shift," he said. "Just concerned if you need anything."

Senecal managed a smile though it was forced and did not reach her eyes.

"Katja was very upset but she's sleeping for now," Senecal said quietly.

"How are you?" he asked, his eyes looking at her imploringly.

"I… I don't know right now," she said. "Oh, I'm sorry, would you care to come in for a while? It is terrible standing in the doorway talking."

They both stepped inside toward the living room and she went toward the replicator.

"Would you like something to drink?" she asked.

"No, I am fine, thank you," said Rilar with a small smile before settling on the sofa.

"Hot chocolate," she instructed then retrieved her cup as it materialized.

Senecal settled on the sofa next to Rilar, cupping her hands around the warm mug.

"I would have gone with you to the _Victoria_ but I was called away to other duties," Rilar explained. "It is not good to go alone."

"I appreciate it but no, I needed to do it on my own," she said, taking a sip from her mug. "I would not want him to be known as the way you saw him. It is better for Katja and others to remember him as he was."

"That is understandable," he said. "Do you know yet why he was on the transport to come here this soon?"

Senecal shook her head slowly, "I collected his belongings including his journal logs. He might explain his intentions there but I believe I know why he came this quickly."

"How so?"

"The Chief Medical Officer on the _Victoria_ told me he was not joined," she told him. "He must have been rejected as a host."

"You will find out soon enough, I'm sure," he said.

"My brother is on his way on the _Titus_ and will hopefully keep Katja's attention off of her father's death," Senecal mentioned. "Perhaps mine as well."

"It is best to have family here at a time like this," Rilar said. "You know I will be there for you if you need anything."

"Thank you," she said gratefully.

"I'll let you be for now, you need some rest," he said standing.

She walked him to the door and said their goodnights.

* * *

Serea sat alone in her quarters, contemplating her day. Reports and data from the attacks that day surrounded her on her bed. She had read through most of them but still did not understand why the renegade ships attacked the transport. Raleigh and Rilar had also been scouring through the data and scans but decided to continue in the morning after a refreshing night's rest. Ten people died from injuries sustained in the attacks on the _Calamity_ and another four dozen were hurt in varying degrees. It was beginning to look like the attack may have simply been random to cause havoc rather than to try and take more Jetallans.

"Torres to Serea. Sir, we have a communication coming in for you from _Starfleet Command_."

"Put it through to my quarters," she responded though wondering why she would get a message so late.

Walking over to the wall display, Serea awaited the transmission and saw a familiar admiral appear, the one who had assigned her to _DS13_.

"Admiral Nettera, I did not expect to hear from you so soon," she said.

"Hello, Commander. I know but some things have come to my attention that you need to know," he said with a sigh. "_Starfleet_ Intelligence has disclosed information to us concerning the attack on the _S.S.__Calamity_ transport near _DS13_ today because of 'chatter' they overheard. It seems whoever was behind the kidnappings are also involved in this latest assault. They were after non-Jetallans this time and it is a change in the way we were viewing this unfolding situation you have."

"Does Intel know who they were after or what the purpose of these kidnappings and attacks are?" Serea asked.

"No, not about the attacks but they were after at least three people specifically," he said, an eyebrow perking up. "One was a Viken Ralot, a Bolian chemist who was on his way to Ferenginar; the second was Lieutenant T'Rila, a Vulcan _Starfleet_ science officer on her way to her next outpost on the Cardassian border; and the third I am sure will not surprise you."

"Lorias Brenal," she stated matter-of-factly. "They all are scientists of ranging fields. Lorias was an exo-biologist and exo-archaeologist. I remember the Bolian chemist, he survived but Lt. T'Rila did not. What was her field of study?"

"A cellular physiologist," Nettera informed her. "We noted the coincidences as well but there are no other connections between the three that we have discovered other than booking passage on the transport and being scientists."

"I will see what my crew can uncover in their investigations," she said with a nod. "It appears the attacking ships have become more bold in their assaults. We will be on Yellow Alert until more reinforcements arrive."

"Understandable," Nettera acknowledged. "Notify me if you discover anything. Nettera out."

Serea carefully jotted down the information the admiral had told her into a nearby padd. She would have to wait until morning to give the details to Raleigh and Rilar. For now, interviews would have to be made concerning the three people the Breen appeared to be after. However, whatever plans they may have had were changed since two of the people of interest were now dead. She knew that with this turn of events that the attentions of the Breen rebels or whoever was behind the attacks would move to someone else but they would not be so careless the next time.


End file.
